$5.7m fine for iStar pirate service
July 19, 2022
By Colin Mann
A federal court in Michigan entered a final judgment and permanent injunction against Atlas Electronics Inc. and its owner, Alaa Al-Emara, both based in Dearborn, Michigan, for $5,740,000 (€5.66m) in connection with selling pirate streaming services.
As part of the judgment, the court’s order also permanently enjoins Atlas and Al-Emara from distributing, selling, providing, or promoting any product or service that infringes on certain channels that are members of anti-piracy coalition IBCAP and any of the programming on those channels. Moreover, the order prohibits Atlas and Al-Emara from advertising, displaying, or marketing any set-top-box or service that infringes those channels or any programming on those channels.
“IBCAP’s protection of its members’ content not only includes aggressive monitoring, detection and takedown tactics, but also the coordination of lawsuits against sellers and distributors of pirate services,” said Chris Kuelling, executive director of IBCAP. “Once again, a retailer in the US has been ordered to pay for its illegal activities – in this case more than $5.7 million. IBCAP will continue to work with its members to take action against sellers of illegal services to send a clear message that selling pirate services will have serious ramifications.”