Court Awards DISH Network(R), EchoStar and NagraStar $51 Million in Anti-Piracy Case

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Jan 11, 2010, 11:43 ET

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today, DISH Network L.L.C., EchoStar Technologies L.L.C. and NagraStar scored another important anti-piracy victory. A Florida federal court issued a $51 million dollar judgment against Robert Ward, who posted software on the Internet that allowed individuals to illegally receive DISH Network programming using Free-To-Air receivers.

In the summary judgment decision, the court made two significant holdings that will strengthen the companies' ability to pursue pirates in the future. The court held that the posting of pirate software constitutes a violation of the Federal Communications Act, and that statutory damages should be calculated based on how many individuals downloaded the pirate software.

"This is a significant victory in our effort to eradicate piracy of the DISH Network system. We thank the court for its well-reasoned analysis," said Pascal Lenoir, CEO of NagraStar.

About DISH Network

DISH Network L.L.C., a subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH), provides more than 14 million satellite TV customers, as of Dec. 10, 2009, with the highest quality programming and technology at the best value, including the lowest all-digital price nationwide. Customers have access to hundreds of video and audio channels, the most HD channels, the most international channels, state-of-the-art interactive TV applications, and award-winning HD and DVR technology including 1080p Video on Demand and the ViP® 722 HD DVR, a CNET and PC Magazine "Editors' Choice." DISH Network Corporation is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 250 company. Visit www.dishnetwork.com, follow on Twitter, @dishnetwork (www.twitter.com/dishnetwork), or become a Fan on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dishnetwork.

SOURCE DISH Network Corporation