A court in the Walloon city of Dinant has confiscated the €111,000 a card sharing pirate made with his venture.
The man, an ICT specialist from the Belgian province of Namur, was also sentenced to 150 hours of work; or six months in prison if het does not comply.
The pirate’s lawyer had argued that the defendant did not actually ‘hack’ the signal, but was only sharing his own subscription to pay-TV providers with others.
A complice of the pirate, who acted as a reseller, was sentenced to a suspended sentence of four months in jail and confiscation of his profits, around €2,000.
Judge Natacha Deprey also awarded the pay TV companies that sued the two man damages of €1,000 each, to be paid by the pirate and his reseller.
