Federal officers have searched the offices of three companies accused in a suit of dealing in modified electronic devices that can unscramble satellite pay-TV signals.
Sealed suits were filed in U.S. District Court last week by Home Box Office, Showtime, and Cable-Home Communication Corp., all Delaware companies. Those named in seizure orders signed by U.S. District Judge David K. Winder are:-Mario Zullo, also known as Full View Programming, and International Distributing. Listed in the seizure order were a business office at 7117 S. 400 West, Suite 6, Midvale, and a residence at 5985 S. Sandusky Circle, Murray.
-Channel One Entertainment Systems Inc., address listed in the seizure order as 5305 S. 320 West, Murray.
-Roger Ingleby, doing business as Satellite Service Inc. and as Commercial Media, 455 E. 200 South, Suites 39 and 41.
The seizure orders called for agents to pick up modified unscrambler devices, circuit boards, computer software and business records. Defendants were accused of distributing "unauthorized, altered versions of (an unscrambler) enabling a user to receive a descrambled signal without paying for it," the complaints say.
The unscramblers that are built into most home satellite TV systems can be modified so the satellite dishes can pick up and unscramble pay-TV signals, say the plaintiffs.
In the raids, customer lists were seized showing more than 1,000 places "where piracy (of pay TV signals) may be occurring," they add.
General Instrument Corp., the owners of Cable-Home Communication, has been investigating for nine months what it claims is widespread use of modified satellite unscramblers. Material seized in the raids is being examined, said Rick Griffin, a company spokesman.
"They're trying to inventory what they have, and tag it," he said.
U.S. District Judge David K. Winder sealed the actions on the motion of the plaintiffs, when they were filed last week. Late Monday, after the raids occurred, he ordered the files unsealed.
Hearings in the case will begin Wednesday at 11 a.m.
An affidavit in one of the actions indicates the extent of the investigative effort. It was filed by Layne Pantone.
"In September of 1989, I was approached by Steve Rust of U.S. Corporate Investigations to assist him with his investigation into suspected instances of the theft of satellite television programming in the state of Utah," Pantone wrote.
He told Rust he previously worked for one of the defendants, and Rust asked him to seek re-employment. He did, says the affidavit, and went out "on a number of service calls to the houses of customers for the purpose of modifying (unscramblers) units so that they could be used to unscramble encrypted satellite broadcast programming."