The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Satellite Bahamas and its principals last night joined DIRECTV in filing a proposed motion to dismiss the latter’s ‘TV signal piracy’ case against them, after an unspecified sum of money was transferred to a US bank.

The dismissal motion now just awaits the signature of south Florida US district judge, James Cohn, before the legal action against the Mackey Street-based business and its principals, Michael and Peter Garraway, comes to an end.

The judge’s signature is a likely legal formality, and brings to an end nine months of heated litigation between the US’s largest satellite TV provider on one side, and the Garraways and their businesses, including Satellite Bahamas, on the other.

Yesterday’s filing came after both sides agreed to extend the March 31, 2014, deadline by which a “payment” was due to be made under the terms of their out-of-court settlement agreement.

It is unclear from the court filings who was paying who, but given that the money transfer was to a US bank, it seems likely that the Garraways and Satellite Bahamas have paid DIRECTV an undisclosed sum. And given that the latter alleged their claimed ‘signal piracy’ had earned the Bahamian defendants at least $8.8 million in revenues, the size of the payment is likely reasonably substantial.

A March 31, 2014, joint filing with the US court by DIRECTV and the Garraways reiterated that one term of their settlement agreement had been due for completion that day.

“The term in question is the wire transfer of certain funds, which have been deposited at Wells Fargo,” the filing read. “[They] are clear and available per Wells Fargo’s advice, but cannot be transferred pursuant to that bank’s administrative procedures prior to April 1, 2014.

“Based on all of the foregoing, the parties have agreed to extend the deadline for the payment required under the settlement agreement through and including April 1, 2014.

“Accordingly, the parties respectfully request that the March 31 deadline for the filing of a stipulation of dismissal be extended for two days through April 2, 2014.”

That payment condition now appears to have been completed, overcoming the final hurdle to the court signing-off on the litigation end.

Tribune Business previously revealed that Satellite Bahamas and the Garraway brothers have agreed to a permanent bar on being able to offer DIRECTV’s programming to clients in the Bahamas and other countries as part of the settlement.

They are also barred from “creating, causing to be created, residential or commercial subscription accounts for DIRECTV’s satellite television programming service” outside the US.

Other clauses in the injunction are designed to prevent the Garraways and Satellite Bahamas from activating DIRECTV’s receiving equipment outside the US, and exporting this equipment outside US borders.

They are also blocked from “imitating, copying or making any use of” DIRECTV’s trade marks; claiming they have any approvals from the US satellite broadcaster; and helping others to access its signals outside the US. Any violations by Satellite Bahamas and the Garraways would give the US court “full authority to award damages and other relief” in DIRECTV’s favour.

DIRECTV had previously alleged that the Garraways, and Satellite Bahamas, earned at least $8.8 million in revenues from the illegal pirating of its programming signals, which are not supposed to be broadcast outside the US.

Others who will likely be delighted at the prospect of an end to the litigation in the Florida courts will be the 10 Bahamian businesses named by DIRECTV as so-called ‘John Doe’ defendants because it has yet to uncover their names. Such businesses included casinos, hotels and restaurants.

The Garraways had argued that DIRECTV’s action against them should be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds because they - and Satellite Bahamas - are domiciled in this nation, not the US.

They were arguing that the legislation cited by DIRECTV does not apply to communications activities that took place inside the Bahamas, and that Satellite Bahamas’ website was only a marketing tool to customers within this nation.