Dish, Chinese Broadcasters Sue Maker of h.TV Set-top Box for Piracy

Dish Network and broadcasters China Central TV (CCTV) and TVB Holdings are suing HTV International (HTVI), the maker of the h.TV set-top box, for pirating CCTV and TVB TV programming. In a 32-page suit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, they allege h.TV set-top subscribers, after a one-time payment of up to $300 for the box, receive unlicensed signals from China, Hong Kong and other nations, with Dish having some rights to TVB distribution in the U.S. h.TV's "massive piracy" works through a peer-to-peer network, with some h.TV users not only receiving programming streams but also retransmitting those streams to other h.TV users, according to the suit. The plaintiffs also allege HTVI has "gone to great lengths to conceal ... infringing activity" by claiming it has no role in the third-party h.TV apps that allow users to access and share the infringing content, but those app developers don't exist "or are controlled by HTVI," and the company is directly responsible for the capturing of CCTV and TVB broadcasts and development and dissemination of the apps. In the suit, the plaintiffs seek a permanent injunction from transmitting or distributing CCTV and TVB programming or selling an h.TV device that offers that programming, plus unspecified damages. HTVI didn't comment.