Acting on reports from its own customers, ABS-CBN, the leading Filipino media and entertainment company in the world, served today a Statement of Claim issued in Canadian Federal Court against Dazcon Inc. arising out of set-top boxes that enabled buyers to illegally access hundreds of ABS-CBN’s copyrighted movies and TV shows.
The suit filed by ABS-CBN against Dazcon Inc. seeks damages of CAD 5 million for copyright infringement, trademark infringement and enabling and inducing copyright infringement of ABS-CBN’s copyrighted works.
Dazcon Inc. is located in a popular shopping area in Kennedy Square Mall at 50 Kennedy Road South, Unit 60D, Brampton, Ontario.
“We are very thankful that concerned ABS-CBN customers notified us of Dazcon’s illicit activities that we were able to confirm,” said ABS-CBN’s AVP & Head of Global Anti-Piracy Elisha Lawrence. “Beware of these operations that are not licensed or affiliated in any way with ABS-CBN. If you have any suspicions of other boxes being sold that are not affiliated with ABS-CBN, please call the ABS-CBN office in the U.S. or Canada to verify. We will continue to protect customers by shutting these operations down.”
“The best way to really fight piracy is a partnership among us, the customers and the community,” said ABS-CBN Canada Country Manager Raymund Abog. “This case is a clear example of proactive ABS-CBN customers acting on what they witnessed first-hand as illegal activities of piracy in the community. Their action will help prevent content pirates from profiting illegally on unsuspecting consumers.”
David Lipkus, counsel for ABS-CBN in Canada, said, “The dangers associated with using illegal set-top boxes are real, because they may not have been tested pursuant to Canadian safety standards. I urge all Canadians to be careful and not put their homes and family at risk by plugging in a potentially dangerous set-top box.”