ABS-CBN sues firm for copyright infringement

Local media and entertainment giant ABS-CBN has filed a complaint in US Federal Court in the Southern District of Texas against an international firm for allegedly pirating the network’s content and trademark.

In a statement, ABS-CBN said they formally filed a complaint against Texas resident Anthony Brown and his company, 1700 Cuts Technical, seeking damages over $4 million for copyright infringement.

The lawsuit alleges that Texas resident Brown promoted and sold modified illegal set-top boxes via various Facebook pages operated by Brown and his firm.

ABS-CBN said the accused enabled buyers to access its live programming without paying the appropriate fee for the services.

The Facebook pages used to promote the illegal set-top boxes included two personal profile pages and a business page for “Lifeforgreatness.”

ABS-CBN assistant vice president and head of global anti-piracy Elisha Lawrence warned the public of operations that are not licensed or affiliated in any way with the network.

“We will continue to protect customers by shutting these operations down. The only genuine ABS-CBN Internet subscription services are TFC on cable and satellite, IPTV and TFC.tv,” Lawrence said.

ABS-CBN managing director for North and Latin America, Jun Del Rosario, vowed to protect their content so that the team of creative and technical people are rightfully acknowledged and compensated for their work.