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Citation- > Broadcasting, Sept , v n p ( )
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Citation-> Broadcasting, Sept 24, 1990 v119 n13 p80(1)
COPYRIGHT Broadcasting Publications 1990
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Title-> SBCA poised to put money behind antipiracy effort.
(Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association)
Authors-> Lambert, Peter D.
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Subjects-> Satellite Broadcasting and Communications
Association_security measures
Subscription television piracy_prevention
SIC Codes-> 4841
Article #-> 08958662
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Suspecting majority of dealers involved in signal theft, program,
manufacturer and retail members look to bolster budget for network of
former FBI agents
The satellite industry's Anti-Piracy Task Force (APTF) heard good and
bad news during its Sept. 1 8 meeting at Satellite Broadcasting and
Communications Association in Alexandria, Va. In the bad news
department, said Deppish Kirkland III, the SBCA's head of signal theft
investigations, the association suspects that, of 6,404 home satellite
equipment dealers listed in 1990 telephone books, about 5,120-80%--are
involved directly or indirectly in pi.racy, including, ironically,
some of the largest distributors of programing to paying subscribers.
The good news, said Kirkland and SBCA President Chuck Hewitt, is that
a nationwide infrastructure that includes former FBI agents, U.S.
attorneys and FBI bureaus is in position to complete up to eight
regional sweeps of piracy suspects and to pursue up to 2,000 cases by
the end of 1991.
Describing a sweep of raids on suspected pirates in Colorado last July
and in Tennessee on Sept. 6 as the first two of up to eight targeted
sweeps in 1990, Hewitt said the message to hackers who illegally
alter satellite video descramblers to receive programing for free,
and to retailers who sell the altered boxes, is, "No, we can't get
everyone, but if we go into your region.. if you're ;A pirate, we're
going to get you. "
The APTF, said Hewitt, used th(, meeting to solve its 1990 budget
problems. But tough decisions remain to be made about how much the
association will spend to reach 1991 goals set b,; Kirkland, who said
pursuing criminal or civil litigation against all suspected pirates
would demand S23 million-$34.5 million. Hewitt said the SBCA now knows
the basic cost of pursuing each regional sweep and must determine how
many cases it wishes to prosecute in criminal court, litigate in civil
court or otherwise pursue. If the association quadrupled its budget in
1991, he said, all additional money would go to funding, antipiracy
efforts.
Given agreement on some ballpark figure the SBCA wishes to raise for
1991, it will then be faced with finding mechanisms with which to fund
APTF efforts. The dollars. said APTF Chairman and HBO Satellite
Services President Robert Caird, ought to come from all the
manufacturing, programing and distribution companies that gain revenue
from satellite TV. As to the prospect of getting funds from a retail
segment suspected of heavy participation in the problem, Caird
suggested manufacturers could pass on to retailers the antitheft cost
of doing business.
Hewitt believes that out of the 5,000 dealers involved, under 1,000
are "hard core crooks" not likely to be dissuaded from participating
in a 200-million-a-year black market. The vast majority of dealers, he
said, believe they have been driven into selling or refering sellers
of pirated boxes to stay in business. Kirkland and Hewitt said that,
given a critical mass of cases opened, perhaps 20% of the suspected
pirate community, the majority will follow the lead set by pirates in
Colorado who Hewitt said called the SBCA following the July raids,
asking how to clean up their businesses.
Kirkland said that 569 cases are currently open, 121 of these
confirmed by evidence and 82 ready for prosecution. Hoping to open
1,200 more cases in 1991, Kirkland seeks from the association a
litigation fund to pursue civil actions against those not prosecuted
in criminal court.
For the time being, Hewitt and SBCA Retail Council Chairman Rik
Hawkins said they know of only 14 dealers in the U.S. "who won't do
anything" piracy related.
Two more years
Gannett Broadcasting, which first signed on with GTE Spacenet for
satellite newsgathering services in 1986, last week announced it has
extended the relationship for another two years. Spacenet will
distribute Gannett News Service video to 10 Gannett stations, as well
as Spacenet's own News Express service computer-based scheduling,
transponder access management and voice communications systems), for
the Gannett News Bureau and its cooperative of eight stations equipped
with transportable uplinks.
Total Communications, formed in Virginia by overseas interests, is set
to make an offer in court Sept. 26 to buy and continue the business
for Skycom, which filed Chapter I I bankruptcy last March, Skycom and
GTE Spacenet created the Skyswitch voice communications system used by
CBS and ABC in coordinating satellite newsgathering operations with
their affiliates.
Meanwhile. GTE Spacenet has upgraded the hardware for, and the name
of, that voice communications package. Now referred to as the News
Express Communicator, the Skyswitch hardware has been reduced in size
by 41%-it will open up additional bay space in a standard or downsized
Ku truck, said Spacenet-and by 10% in price. A larger data rate will
also allow more complete exchange of script revisions or updates, said
Spacenct, which did not provide pricing details on what it said is a
new upgrade/trade-in program for current Skyswitch owners. News
Express will operate on three GTE birds, including Spacenet I and
GStars II, III and IV, given a successful launch of the last of those
in late November.
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