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.

A Florida Federal Court walloped a DISH Network pirate with a $51 million judgment after he was found to be posting software on the internet that allowed people with Free-to-air (FTA) satellite systems to receive programming from DISH Network without paying for it.

Satellite companies like DISH go to great lengths to protect their signals with various types of encryption, but when someone figures out how to crack the code and receive programming for free, they sometimes share it with others who also end up risking prosecution if they are caught pirating a subscription channel.

The court held that the posting of pirating software code is a violation of the Federal Communications Act, and that statutory damages should be arrived at based on how many persons downloaded the pirating software. Considering the $51 million number, one heck of a lot of people must have downloaded that code!

These matters are taken very seriously and as one pirate who was foolish enough to advertise his illegal wares found out, $51 million is a pretty big number. Can’t imagine how the average Joe could pay that, but I sure wouldn’t want to have to figure out how!

Glenn White had an interesting business model. He was running a cable television service in Wagram, North Carolina and distributing programming content from DISH Network’s satellite service to his customers. The problem was that White had not bothered to talk to DISH Network before doing that.

White was using illegally modified equipment to receive the DISH Network programming he was providing for his cable TV subscribers. This is often referred to as piracy, and involves using equipment that has been built or modified to bypass the security measures that satellite broadcasters use to prevent non-subscribers from receiving their broadcasts.

Well, apparently word got out about White’s business tactics, and an FBI investigation resulted. Companies like DISH Network don’t like it when people use illegal equipment to receive programming from their satellites without paying for it, and they really don’t like it when someone is providing stolen programming content to someone else and getting paid for it!

I’m sure White was a but surprised when the FBI visited his business with search-and-seizure orders, and started walking out the door with his equipment. I also suspect his subscribers were not too happy when their cable TV service went out without warning.

Glenn White is now looking at 14 months in a federal prison. I suppose it could have been a lot worse, but I sure would not want to spend any amount of time in a federal prison. I does not sound like much fun.

Some people show up on my site looking for the kinds of information that can be used to get DISH Network without paying for it. They will do a search on Google or Yahoo! that is related to DISH Network and some of them end up here.

Pirating satellite TV is not worth the risk. All it takes is one person to say something to the wrong person, and you can be caught. Seeing as you can get DISH Network packages for as little as about $20 a month, is it really worth getting into legal trouble for the sake of free satellite TV?

Your can read more about Glenn White’s case here.