Quebec court prosecutes grey market dish dealer
A Quebec provincial judge has found a Hudson QC businessman guilty of selling U.S. grey market satellite TV services to Canadians. The March 15 ruling by Justice Claude Prevost is the latest in a series of cases that have used the Radiocommunications Act as the legislation of choice to crack down on grey market dealers (CCR, Jan. 17/01). In this case, Charles Pearlman, who owns New Advanced Technologies, sold the receiving equipment, arranged for Canadians to have a false U.S. address, and acted as the broker for all billing between the customer and the U.S. satellite TV company. The judge sided with the Crown, agreeing that section 9(1)(C) of the Radiocommunications Act makes it illegal to decode a subscription programming signal or a network feed unless it is done with the authorization of a lawful Canadian distributor (i.e. Bell ExpressVu or Star Choice Communications Inc). The sentencing decision was not available at press time.

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now.