It’s risky enough to be receiving illegal satellite or cable TV broadcasts on your own, but for some people that’s not quite enough, and they think of ways to make money for themselves by setting illegal equipment to others. Those that venture into that type of “business” model should prepare themselves for serious consequences if they are caught.

That’s the case with Won Tak Kim, “president” of an outfit called Panarex. The organization was in the business of selling “free-to-air” or FTA satellite systems, which can be perfectly legal when used to receive signals that are intended to be free for public consumption. Panarex, however, was also providing customers with some extra “features,” specifically DISH Network signals that are intended only for DISH Network subscribers.

Although satellite signals that are broadcast by pay-TV providers like DISH Network are encrypted in order to make it more difficult for individuals who attempt to “pirate” the broadcasts without paying for a subscription, there are some individuals who have the technical expertise to manufacture the equipment required to receive the encrypted signals.

When DISH Network learned that Panarex was selling satellite systems that were imported from South Korea and were able to receive encrypted DISH Network broadcasts after downloading decryption codes from the internet, they took legal action.

A federal district court in California ordered Panarex to surrender their inventory and stop selling the illegal receivers. The company was also ordered to pay a $121 million penalty to DISH Network.

No word on how Panarex customers will fare after this settlement, but I would not want to be someone with one of those illegal receivers in my home. Some customers probably believed that they were buying satellite systems that were legal, but there is no doubt that many of them knew exactly what they were getting and may be at risk of prosecution.

Well, I thought it was a bit silly from the start and it seems that a Federal Judge may be in agreement.

The lawsuit filed by DirecTV against DISH Network was a result of DirecTV’s reported belief that the ads were misleading. U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty denied DirecTV’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have halted the advertisements that DirecTV did not like.

Apparently, the judge left the door open for DirecTV to renew their request and better explain what exactly it is about the “Why Pay More?” ads that has DirecTV execs crying foul.

I would think that instead of running to court like a little kid running to mommy after skinning his knee, DirecTV would just come up with some ads of their own that even the score with DISH Network. That seems to be the way it usually goes. My earlier example of how Verizon and AT&T have been ripping each other to shreds is something that I think consumers are accustomed to.

As you might expect, company lawyers presented their cases in court and for now at least, DirecTV was told to pick up all their toys and go home. Perhaps they’ll prepare a better case, or if they smarten up, hire an advertising agency to come up with some ads that target DISH Network.

It’s nice to see a little common sense come from a case like this. It would be nice to see more silly lawsuits get thrown out like this, even if it is just for the time being.

Psssst! Hey buddy, want to buy a free satellite TV descrambler? A shady looking character on a street corner selling illegal satellite receivers out of the back of a van is the image that comes to mind when I think about satellite pirates. This kind of stuff has been going on for years, even before the age of satellite TV when people would hijack cable TV programming by hooking up their homes illegally or buying descrambler boxes which allowed them to watch programming that was not part of the package they were paying for.

In this recent case of satellite piracy, forget about the shady dude with the van – these bozos actually set up a company that was selling a device called “Coolsat,” which allowed purchasers to receive DISH Network programming without paying for it. These geniuses, and their company, called “Freetech” (I wonder how they came up with that name?) recently but the dust in a big way after DISH Network prevailed in a lawsuit that netted a $97 million judgment against the company, hand over all its liquid assets to DISH Network and shut down its business which was reportedly engaged in “business” in other parts of the world beyond the U.S.

Talk about a smack down. Perhaps this will serve as a warning for anyone else foolish enough to actually set up a company and start selling equipment to receive television programming illegally.

I guess “Coolsat” didn’t turn out to be so cool after all.