MONTH-IN-BRIEF (Oct 2018)
E-Commerce
Dish Network Settles Streaming Dispute With Injunction and Damages
By Sara Beth A.R. Kohut
Dish Network LLC and NagraStar LLC filed an agreed motion for final judgment and permanent injunction with certain defendants to end their SetTV streaming service that allegedly retransmitted Dish’s programming without authority. Dish Network LLC v. Johnson, No. 8:18-cv-1332-T-33AAS (M.D. Fla. Oct. 24, 2018). The fourth largest pay-television provider in the U.S. sued SET Broadcast LLC and persons associated with it in May 2018 for violating the Federal Communications Act by taking content from Dish’s satellite broadcasts and redistributing it through their streaming service. The defendants operated their streaming service for approximately 16 months, obtaining about 261,000 subscribers. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida had previously granted temporary and preliminary injunctive relief to Dish. The agreed motion for final judgment included a permanent injunction against the defendants, plus statutory damages of $90,199,000.
