Dish Network has been busy. Not providing content, but suing infringers and defrauders in court. Just this month alone, the company raked in $8.6 million.
Mid-June Dish Network was awarded $5 million from a copyright infringement lawsuit it filed against TV Net Solutions, a provider of foreign-language television. Dish had previously sued TV Net Solutions for enabling access by its customers to Dish Network content, and both companies settled the lawsuit amicably. Dish took TV Net back to court for failing to satisfy the terms of the settlement, and the judge ordered TV Net Solutions to pay Dish Network $4,975,000.
A week later, Dish Networks was awarded $3,600,000 in a default judgment. Dish Network had sued one Robert Thomas Boshae, accusing him of “trafficking” in server pass codes that circumvented Dish Network's security system and enabled those with the server pass codes to receive free satellite broadcasts of Dish Network content. Mr. Bosae did not show up for the trial, and that is why Dish was issued a default judgment.
We doubt Dish Network will be able to collect on either of these judgments, but that was not really the point. We support Disk Network's efforts to enforce its intellectual property rights. If nothing else, the two verdicts and awards send a message to potential infringers and content thieves.