DISH was awarded a $3 million settlement from its lawsuit against content delivery network company DataCamp. The settlement now requires DataCamp to comply with stricter notice-and-takedown practices or they’ll be fined.
Illegal IPTV services and content pirates continue to be a massive thorn in the side for government agencies, law enforcement, and companies around the world.
The multitude of streaming services available today means most customers can no longer afford to watch everything they may want to. This leads viewers to seek out illegal streams. In addition, the ever-evolving nature of technology makes the sprawling illegal IPTV industry almost impossible to fully stamp out.
“This lawsuit and resulting settlement agreement against Datacamp sends a direct message to yet another category of infringers — companies who support pirate services, such as CDNs and hosting companies — that their willingness to deliver infringing content over their networks will not be tolerated,” Chris Kuelling, executive director of IBCAP, of which DISH is a member, said in a statement.
DISH originally complained that DataCamp failed to remove 11 “repeat infringer” customers that DISH had identified as illegal IPTV service operators. The cable TV provider claimed it had delivered more than 400 DMCA take-down notices to DataCamp.
In February 2022, DISH filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against DataCamp demanding $32.5 million in damages.
DataCamp hit back amid settlement negotiations and accused DISH of targeting smaller companies to avoid larger lawsuits which are more expensive with unpredictable outcomes. The CDN company’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit was denied in July.
“In denying DataCamp’s motion, the court found that DataCamp knew of specific infringing uses of its services, the court rejected DataCamp’s argument that it lacked the ability to stop the infringement and found that DataCamp obtained a direct financial benefit from the infringement,” IBCAP said in a statement.
DataCamp maintains that DISH’s complaints are false.
“Throughout the legal process we vehemently denied each claim and even filed Counterclaims against DISH Network due to their failure to comply with the DMCA process. Despite the difficulty of this decision, we believe that the decision to settle is in the best interest of our company and clients. We maintain our unwavering commitment to the highest ethical standards and DMCA compliance,” DataCamp said in a statement obtained earlier by Torrent Freak.
DataCamp wasn’t immediately available for further comment.
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