Two Smyrna men charged with satellite TV piracy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ? Two Smyrna men face federal charges related to selling equipment intended to help buyers illegally receive satellite television without paying required subscription fees.

U.S. Attorney Jim Vines announced the charges Thursday against Donald Nance and Brian Clements, who are accused of selling digital encryption cards that customers could use in DirecTV receivers to get free programming.

The men also face a charge of selling more sophisticated equipment that would allow customers to duplicate the encryption cards themselves.

Vines told WTVF-TV that as soon as the industry comes up with a way to prevent piracy, criminals will begin seeking a way to subvert it.

” … It looks like on this one we caught the bad guys in about the third generation of that technology cat-and-mouse game,” Vines said.

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Information from WTVF-TV, Nashville, http://www.newschannel5.com