ENGLEWOOD, Colo., NORWALK, Calif. & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DISH, TVB (USA) and CCTV have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to halt illegal streaming of content via the “h.TV” device. TVB is the largest producer of Cantonese-language TV programming in the world and CCTV is the largest television broadcaster in mainland China. DISH owns exclusive rights to retransmit TVB and CCTV channels and programs via satellite in the United States, as well as exclusive rights to retransmit TVB content Over the Top (OTT) in the U.S.
In the filing, DISH, TVB and CCTV state that HTV International Limited (HTVI) has set up a pirate broadcasting network that brazenly captures entire channels of TVB and CCTV television programming and streams that programming over the internet to users of the h.TV device in the U.S., 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The h.TV Retransmission Service accomplishes this massive piracy in part through a peer-to-peer network--like Napster, Grokster, and BitTorrent, but designed to stream video content rather than to download media files,” the plaintiffs state in the complaint. “Through this peer-to-peer network, some h.TV users not only receive unauthorized streams of CCTV and TVB programming in the United States, but also simultaneously retransmit that programming to other h.TV users in the United States.”
Consumers are paying as much as $300 for an h.TV device and accessing a variety of “apps” that enable users to access, view and share infringing streams of television programming. Many of these apps unlawfully retransmit TVB and CCTV programming.
“Not only are consumers being scammed when they buy the h.TV device, which relies on content obtained illegally, they are being exploited to help facilitate this scheme through a peer-to-peer network that retransmits unauthorized programming from one user to another,” said Samuel Tsang, vice president, operations for TVB USA. “We work with providers like DISH to offer our content legally to consumers and won’t stand for pirates who seek to profit from our content without our authorization.”
“HTVI has built its entire business around blatant copyright infringement, brazenly advertising and promoting the capability of the h.TV device to provide users with infringing streams of CCTV and TVB television programming,” the plaintiffs state in the complaint.
DISH, TVB and CCTV are represented in the lawsuit by the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
A copy of the complaint can be found here.
About DISH
DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), through its subsidiaries, provides approximately 13.897 million pay-TV subscribers, as of Dec. 31, 2015, with the highest-quality programming and technology with the most choices at the best value. DISH offers a high definition line-up with more than 200 national HD channels, the most international channels and award-winning HD and DVR technology. DISH Network Corporation is a Fortune 250 company. Visit www.dish.com.
Subscribe to DISH email alerts: http://about.dish.com/alerts
Follow @DISHNews on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DISHNews
About TVB USA
TVB USA’s parent company is Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), the largest and most popular producer of Cantonese-language television programming in the world. TVB USA also offers various TVB channels in Mandarin, Vietnamese and English to meet the different needs of Chinese-speaking viewers in the U.S. All the best programming from TVB that originally aired in Hong Kong and Taiwan is broadcast by TVB USA in the United States on more than 10 different channels. Visit www.tvbusa.com.
About CCTV
China Central Television (CCTV) is the National Network of the People’s Republic of China and it is one of China’s most important news broadcast companies. Today, CCTV has become one of China’s most influential media outlets. Currently CCTV is distributing nine international channels in the U.S., which include Chinese, English, French, Russian, Arabic and Spanish, covering almost every aspect of the Chinese social life. It is an important window for the world to find out more about China. CCTV is making efforts to become a global media network with increased international influence. Visit www.cctv.com.