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dish network wins $51 million lawsuit

Dish Network just came out victorious against Robert Ward who had been helping people steal Dish Network signals free of charge. For year’s satellite companies have been fighting and trying to prevent satellite pirates from stealing their signals by using highly encrypted boxes. However people like Ward have turned to hackers to break the encrypted boxes and make money by selling the codes.

But on Monday Ward was found guilty for illegally selling software that broke the Federal communications Act by allowing people to get free satellite service without paying for it. Ward was selling the software online until he was caught breaking the law. It is not clear how many people used the codes to get free Dish Network service but the court calculated the damages to be around $51 million.

For Dish Network this marks a big stepping stone as they continue to fight satellite pirates who use some of the worlds best hackers in order to break their codes. As long as there is TV service, executives at satellite and cable companies know that people will always be looking for a way to get free service. Cable companies experienced it heavily in the 90’s with the “Hot Boxes†that allowed people to access all of cable programming without any charges.

While Dish Network is currently the 2nd leading provider of satellite TV service in the country, by continually offering a better service at a lower price they are quickly gaining ground on their competition.

For Dish Network, which is based in Colorado they know through their partnerships with Echostar and Nagrastar they will continue to develop ways to help prevent satellite pirates from breaking their encrypted codes.

By: Frank Bilotta

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A majority of the people who used the codes did it through a legal box called “Free To Air†Satellite TV boxes. Even though the box was legal, the way the viewers were able to access dish network channels were not.