DirecTV files flurry of lawsuits against pirates in several states

[Gregg Lengling]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — DirecTV, the nation's largest satellite TV service, has filed a spate of lawsuits in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois as part of a national effort to fight against theft of its satellite signal.
"We are attacking up and down the entire food chain of the pirate community, from the demand side to the supply side," said Robert Mercer, a company spokesman. "We really have to adopt a take-no-prisoners kind of attitude on this activity. They are stealing."

DirectTV has filed about 740 cases in Illinois, 360 in Missouri and 90 in Kansas, Mercer said.

Unlike cable television, which requires a wire running from the street into a home or building, DirecTV delivers its television product via a satellite signal. A receiver inside the home is used to translate code gathered by an outside dish pointed toward satellites in orbit.

The wireless nature of the DirecTV service makes it relatively easy for 'pirates' armed with the right technology to steal the broadcast signal. And there are no cables to follow to track down those who might be stealing the signal.

So DirecTV, based in El Segundo, Calif., has asked federal courts to authorize civil raids to collect incriminating information from companies that market illicit receiving gear, often over the Internet.