Pirate IPTV Box Seller Faces Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit in the US

• A pirate IPTV box seller was arrested by the LA police and is now facing a bashing lawsuit by ABS-CBN.
• The man was running a scamming scheme together with his cousin in Texas, so they’re both in trouble.
• The media giant is now asking for $100k for each violation, as well as a coverage of their legal costs.

A man named Romula Araneta Castillo was arrested in Los Angeles following an undercover operation involving the purchase of five pirate IPTV set-top boxes on February 7, 2020. Unbeknownst to him, the men who were interested in the products were policemen, who arrested him for violations relevant to the California Penal Code 593(d). A few days after the event, the broadcasting giant ABS-CBN, filed two lawsuits, one against Castillo and another one targeting his cousin, Alberto Ace Mayol, who resides in Texas. Mayol was included in the penal action after the police investigation connected him with the scheme.

Source: abs-cbn.com

According to the allegations made by ABS-CBN, the pirates were illegally accessing the company’s live communications, circumvented their encryption technology, and finally re-broadcasted the signals to others without having a license to do so. Obviously, the content was copyrighted, and so the ABS-CBN is now asking for pretty hefty damage compensation. To be precise, ABS-CBN is requesting $1000000 for each violation of the applicable laws, $15000 for the actual damages, the attorney fees, and any other relief that the Court may deem just and proper. The same is demanded from Mayol, with the only difference being the actual damages which are reduced to $1000.

Of course, the LA police were pointed to the man after ABS-CBN tracked the online traces of the IPTV sellers. As they write on their website, the two men were preying on innocent people, selling fake boxes and scamming them. We can’t say for sure what the media company means by the term “innocent”, but we reckon that they suppose the buyers weren’t informed about the illegal nature of these TV boxes. As for the “fake” part, they may imply that some of the boxes weren’t operational, or it may refer to the claims about delivering 4K content which is denoted on the casing.

Source: abs-cbn.com

As the number of pirate IPTV services subscribers rises, broadcasters and the ACE are intensifying their crackdown efforts in the United States. The recent arrests and bashing lawsuits are certainly sending a message to the TV Box resellers' community across the country, but we’re still far from seeing the end of it. The demand for these services is still rising, and no matter what happens on the LA District Court now, there will always be people who are ready to take the risk.