Belize City based CBC cable has agreed to pay a mega judgement in a US court. As we reported back in June, US satellite provider dish Network sued CBC and owner Robert Reich basically for pirating their signals and offering them to subscribers on the CBC channel lineup.

Well that case originated in Florida in January of this year, and it was settled yesterday for nearly 16 million US dollars. The website LAW 360 reports, quote, "In an agreed judgment that ended the case Tuesday, Channel Broadcasting…of Belize Ltd. and two individual co-defendants (namely Robert and Carol Reich) are expected to pay $750 for each of 21,136 access credentials to the CBC service, through which they allegedly supplied the Dish programs." End quote. That amounts to 15.8 million US dollars.

The agreement also includes a permanent injunction barring CBC from pirating or distribution its signals.

The case sent shock-waves through the cable industry which was built on piracy for decades. Fearing just such an outcome, cable operators having been moving consistently towards copyright compliance over the last few years.

Channel 7

CBC Cable Says It’s Not Going Anywhere

Last night, we told you court documents from Florida which show how the Belize City-based cable company, CBC, has agreed to a 15.8 million US dollar judgement to settle a lawsuit brought by US satellite provider, DISH Network, brought against them. DISH Network sued CBC for basically pirating their signals and offering them to Belizean subscribers on their cable channel lineup.

In response today, CBC had a very short, official comment to make about the judgment.

Their statement says, quote, "CBC is pleased to announce that it has reached a settlement of the legal dispute with DISH network LLC and Nagrastar LLC in the US District Court in the Southern District of Florida. That settlement requires that the terms remain strictly confidential. CBC looks forward to continue serving its customers and the public with top-quality cable and internet services." End quote.

The key line in there is that CBC says it will continue to serve its thousands of subscribers - since there may be legitimate concerns about whether the judgement debt would force the long established cable operator into dire financial straits.

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