U.S. District Court Rules For Dish In Conditional Access Suit

[Satellite Today – 5-15-08] Dish Network Corp. won its lawsuit against NDS Group over conditional access card technology, Dish announced May 15.
    The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled for Dish Network in the suit, filed by EchoStar in 2003, that claimed NDS Group reverse-engineered conditional access cards developed for EchoStar, opening Dish up to a wave of signal piracy. EchoStar had to replace more than 9 million cards.
    According to reports, Dish had been seeking as much as $1 billion in damages but was awarded just $1,500 for a single incident.
    "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,” Dish said in a statement. “We will continue to vigorously prosecute those individuals and companies that engage in stealing our satellite signals. While we are disappointed in the jury’s damages award, we are pleased that NDS will be responsible for our attorney fees in this case and that we were completely vindicated on NDS’ meritless counterclaims."