{
  "id": "RS21912",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS21912",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 102867,
      "date": "2004-08-18",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T20:10:02.351130",
      "title": "Private Rights of Action and the Wiretap Act: The \"DirecTV\" Litigation",
      "summary": "Attempts by DirecTV to reduce the piracy of its satellite broadcast signal have garnered\nsignificant\nlegal and congressional interest. Over the past several years DirecTV has been engaged in an\naggressive campaign to prevent the theft and piracy of its satellite television signal. One element\nof this campaign has been to bring civil lawsuits against individuals who possess certain devices that\napparently can be used to intercept satellite transmissions. DirecTV has brought these lawsuits\nprimarily pursuant to the civil remedies section of the Electronic Communications Piracy Act\n(Wiretap Act), arguing that the statute allows them to bring a civil suit for any violation of the\nWiretap Act. Numerous defendants to these suits have responded by arguing that DirecTV's use of\nthis civil remedy is inappropriate because the act does not provide the statutory authority to bring\na civil lawsuit for violations of other sections of the Wiretap Act. Rather, they contend that the civil\nremedy is limited to the specific violations listed in the statute. This argument has been met with\ninconsistent results among the federal district courts that have ruled on its merits. Recently, the\nEleventh Circuit Court of Appeals became the first federal court of appeals to address this specific\nissue, holding that the plain language of the Wiretap Act does not provide DirecTV with a private\nright of action for alleged violations of other sections of the Wiretap Act.  (1)  \nThis report will be\nupdated.\n     1.  \u00a0 DirecTV, Inc. v. Treworgy , 373 F.3d 1124\n(11th Cir. 2004).",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS21912",
          "sha1": "58e8c9d70844c996f56708795fb46eeef7e17320",
          "filename": "files/20040818_RS21912_58e8c9d70844c996f56708795fb46eeef7e17320.pdf",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20040818_RS21912_58e8c9d70844c996f56708795fb46eeef7e17320.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "American Law"
  ]
}