Douglas County-based Dish Network Corp. won a jury verdict Thursday in its piracy case against NDS Group, a News Corp. company.
However, the federal jury in Santa Ana, Calif., awarded the nation’s second-largest satellite-television provider limited damages of $45.69 and $1,000 in statutory damages. That is a far cry from the $1 billion Dish Network sought in statutory damages and $181 million in compensatory damages to replace equipment and recoup lost profits.
NDS provides encryption technology for Dish rival DirecTV.
Dish charged that NDS used hackers to crack security in Dish’s access cards. The jury found that NDS violated some U.S. and California laws.
The verdict showed that the jury found that NDS hadn’t engaged in piracy even though an NDS employee conducted a test that might have technically violated U.S. law, said Darin Snyder, an attorney for NDS, after the verdict was read.
Dish Network said in a written statement that it was disappointed in the damages award but pleased that NDS would be responsible for its attorney fees.
“We are pleased that after four weeks of testimony on all the facts, the jury concluded that NDS violated the Federal Communications Act and the California Penal Code,” the company said. “We will continue to vigorously prosecute those individuals and companies that engage in stealing our satellite signals.”
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
Kimberly S. Johnson: 303-954-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com
