By Jonathan Easton

The International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP) has announced a lawsuit against South Asian pirate video services Desi TV and Live TV

The suit was brought by IBCAP member DISH Network and accuses the operators of the Desi TV and Live TV services engaged in direct copyright infringement by transmitting South Asian channels and content airing on those channels without authorization to users in the United States.

In addition, the suit includes claims against a dealer in Brooklyn, NY known as 786 Wireless and its owner, Rana Afza who are accused of “facilitating access to the copyrighted works and creating the audience for the infringement.”

The complaint goes on to seek an injunction against the defendants and their hosting companies and CDNs that would prohibit the continued transmission of the channels.

Executive director of IBCAP, Chris Kuelling,said: “This latest case reiterates that IBCAP and its members will not tolerate piracy and will take action against illegal IPTV services and their dealers who ignore our take down notices. Dealers of these illegal IPTV services need to realize that they are risking their entire business by being involved, and it simply is not worth taking that risk.”

VP anti-piracy services at NAGRA, Jean-Philippe Plantevin, which provided investigatory and technical assistance to support the case, said: “As a long-term partner of IBCAP, NAGRA is proud to have provided intelligence and evidence to support this lawsuit against South Asian pirate video services. For decades, NAGRA has been committed to helping the industry protect its considerable investment in content production and distribution. Piracy is a problem that has to be met with a defined strategy, the best anti-piracy tools available, and the full engagement of key stakeholders. We are proud to support this latest case, and we will continue to work with IBCAP on similar cases in the future.”