CA vendor Kudelski is celebrating after a dealer in the Swiss Canton of Aargau was fined SFr3,000 (€1,823) for selling pirate smart cards for German pay-TV operator Premiere. The district court in Brugg made the conviction under Article 150bis of the Swiss Criminal Code, which in addition to the import and export of illegal cards also covers their trade and installation.
“As a supplier of security technologies and solutions, we are pleased about this conviction. It sends a clear message not only to dealers but also to any users that the pirating of television programs is more than a minor offence,” said Christophe Nicolas, chief security officer of Nagravision. “We trust the Swiss justice who considers that pirating of TV programs is an illicit activity which ought to be condemned,” Nicolas added. Several other cases are known to be pending.
In March, two company managers were convicted for the same offence in the Swiss Canton of Zug. In that case fines of SFr20,000 were imposed for offences including the provision of software over the Internet.
