Man fined $40,000 for selling set-top boxes

A federal court judge has fined a pre-loaded set top box seller $40,000 for being in contempt of an injunction by continuing to sell the boxes to people to pirate television content. After delays due to “various reasons” including the pandemic, Justice John Norris wrote in a Sept. 1 decision, recently released by the court, that Eric Adwokat, who was in 2019 found in contempt of a 2016 interlocutory injunction alongside his company Red Rhino Entertainment Inc., will have two years to pay the $40,000 fine. If the balance isn’t paid in that time, Adwokat could be jailed for up to 90 days if the companies which sued him move for an order. BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Groupe TVA Inc., and Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron successfully sought out the injunction against five different companies five years ago requiring them to stop selling the boxes which allow users to access pirated TV services. That order was then able to be served upon other businesses and people as the companies became aware of their actions. Originally, the companies aked for jail time for Adwokat plus a fine of $200,000 and all-inclusive costs of $400,000. They claimed there were seven specific instances of contempt by Adwokat and Red Rhino selling and marketing the boxes over a year and a half, all of which Norris found to be established beyond a reasonable doubt. “Whether or not it is appropriate to describe his motivation as greed, it is clear that he was motivated by financial gain,” Norris wrote. “While there is nothing inherently blameworthy about this, he pursued this goal by means that were prohibited by the interlocutory injunction. That is to say, he put his own financial interests ahead of his legal obligations.” Norris also wrote that the companies claimed Adwokat and his company could be liable for statutory damages of over $30 million, “however, the potential range of statutory damages is very wide.” Meanwhile, Adwokat, who Norris said has yet to file a defence as of his decision, submitted that a fine of $20,000 would be appropriate, or 250 hours of community service if he could not pay it in two years. In an affidavit, Adwokat said he now understands he should not have done what he did. “I understand now that I should not have been looking for ways to evade restrictions on what I was doing. I regret my conduct, which I now understand was improper,” he said. “In retrospect, my conduct was reckless. I have learned that I need to be more careful in the future and that I should not assume that I can conduct a business that is improper because I believe I have found a clever way to avoid the restrictions on conducting that business.” According to Norris’ decision, the companies have another pending action against him and Red Rhino through which they can try to recoup the losses they claimed to have suffered. They also argued that Adwokat’s apology was insincere. “I should also say that I do not agree with the plaintiffs that one of the purposes of sentencing for civil contempt is to make good the losses they suffered because of the offending conduct,” Norris wrote. “A fine for civil contempt does not serve a compensatory purpose. It is a sanction for the harm done to the administration of justice.” Norris wrote in his decision that documents filed by the telecom companies showed Red Rhino devices were being sold at events between 2014 and 2016 including the Canadian National Exhibition, the Toronto Home Show, The Calgary Stampede, and the Pickering Ribfest. “The sophistication and professionalism of the presentation of Red Rhino devices (particularly at the sales booths) lent an unwarranted and misleading air of legitimacy to an illegal activity -- namely, gaining unauthorized access to television programming belonging to the plaintiffs,” Norris wrote. Court cases related to pre-loaded set top boxes have been passing through the courts in recent years. Last month, a federal court judge ordered three pirate TV services to pay more than $29 million in damages to Bell, Rogers, Videotron, and Groupe TVA for cutting into their businesses by selling the boxes and IPTV services. -- Reporting by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca and edited by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca

Man fined $40,000 for selling set-top boxes

Broadcast | September 30, 2021

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Man fined $40,000 for selling set-top boxes

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