We won! Ninth Circuit rules in favor of EFF argument in DirecTV case

I'm happy to report that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in support of our argument in the DirecTV v. Huynh and Oliver cases, which I had the pleasure of presenting to the Court this summer.

The opinion takes a close look at the statutory structure of the Federal Communication Act (specifically, sections 605(a) and 605(e)(4)) and upholds the distinction between those who illegally intercept satellite signals and those who manufacture, assemble, or modify devices to enable others to do so.  (The penalties for the former are up to $10,000 per violation, the latter up to $100,000).

This is an important distinction for at least two reasons: (1) The $100,000 penalty is unduly harsh on people who simply plug a card into their set top box to watch TV, even illegally and (2) security researchers and computer scientists who assemble and modify these devices for purposes of educational research and innovation studies (but not to intercept TV illegally) will no longer have to worry about potential liability from vendors who don't like their results.