Saturday, May 24, 2003

DirecTV sues 130 Virginians in federal court

As reported here and here, DirecTV has filed 40 lawsuits in federal courts across Virginia against a total of 130 defendants, alleging that the defendants "either stole programming or sold pirate equipment that allows signal theft." Similar suits were brought in Minnesota as reported here and here, in Utah as reported here, and in Arkansas as reported here.

Looking on Pacer, cases filed on May 23 in the W.D. Va. include the following: in Abingdon, Case No. 1:03cv00061 with two defendants, Case No. 1:03cv00062 with two defendants, Case No. 1:03cv00063 with one defendant, and Case No. 1:03cv00064 with 8 named defendants plus 10 John Does; in Big Stone Gap, Case No. 2:03cv00074 with two defendants, and Case No. 2:03cv00075 with one defendant; in Danville, Case No. 4:03cv00047 with three defendants; and in Lynchburg, Case No. 6:03cv00038 with one defendant, Case No. 6:03cv00039 with three defendants, Case No. 6:03cv00040 with two defendants. (I suspect there are Roanoke cases not yet on the docket.)

DirecTV is represented in these cases by John H. Jamnback from Seattle and Benjamin J. Lambiotte, III, from Washington, D.C., and various lawyers from the Virginia Beach office of Williams Mullen, including Robert H. Burger, Stephen G. Test, Robert L. Samuel, Jr., and Adam Casagrande.

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