Intellectual Property Infringement by Directv

[stilen621]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon
I buy and sell legally "Owned" Directv satellite receivers on Ebay. I get them from all over the country from all kinds of different people. I am not getting rich by any means but it helps pay some of my bills and thats about it. I obtained (legally) a Directv receiver that apparently is not on the market yet but has been shown at several electronic trade shows around the country, so people in the business know it does exist. It did me no good to have the dang thing so I listed it on Ebay for an outragous price not sure what would happen. Next thing I know. Ebay yanked the listing saying the did it on behalf of Directv and enclosed a email address for them saying I should contact Directv regarding this, which I did. I just got an email from Directv`s IP infringement Dept saying they are looking into the matter. I have never heard of "Intellectual Property" until this email. I guess my question is, Have I done anything wrong here ? I mean, I`m just some 48 year old bumpkin from the woods in Oregon and I`m not sure what to expect from them if anything at all. Any advise would be great. I certainly didnt mean to do anything wrong and only found out about this receiver after I got it and was doing some checking on it. Thanks in advance. What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[divgradcurl]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon
I buy and sell legally "Owned" Directv satellite receivers on Ebay. I get them from all over the country from all kinds of different people. I am not getting rich by any means but it helps pay some of my bills and thats about it. I obtained (legally) a Directv receiver that apparently is not on the market yet but has been shown at several electronic trade shows around the country, so people in the business know it does exist. It did me no good to have the dang thing so I listed it on Ebay for an outragous price not sure what would happen. Next thing I know. Ebay yanked the listing saying the did it on behalf of Directv and enclosed a email address for them saying I should contact Directv regarding this, which I did. I just got an email from Directv`s IP infringement Dept saying they are looking into the matter. I have never heard of "Intellectual Property" until this email. I guess my question is, Have I done anything wrong here ? I mean, I`m just some 48 year old bumpkin from the woods in Oregon and I`m not sure what to expect from them if anything at all. Any advise would be great. I certainly didnt mean to do anything wrong and only found out about this receiver after I got it and was doing some checking on it. Thanks in advance. What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

What do you mean by "legally?" If you obtained this receiver other than through normal retail channels (i.e., getting it at Best Buy or something) it's very possible -- likely even -- that DirectTV still retains rights as to how the device can be advertised or sold. If you purchased this receiver from, say, a wholesaler, or a rep, who didn't have authorization from DirectTV to resell the receiver to you, even though this is a "legal" sale for the purposes of criminal statutes, it is not a "legal" sale for the purposes of exhausting DirectTV's intellectual property rights with respect to that receiver.

 

[stilen621]

I got it from a recycling company. Directv receivers are sold all the time on Ebay and Craigslist (Bad example). I got a call tonight from some guy from Directv who was a real horses patooty saying he was going to call the police on me for having stolen property. The place where I got it from had 15 of these things and I bought one of them on the up and up. Maybe Directv should have done a better job of destroying them if they didn`t want them to be sold. I asked the place where I got it from if they had some sort of proprietary contract with Directv to not sell them and I was told NO. I havent done anything wrong and now they`re (Directv) are being jerks. I guess the plot thickens. If they were stolen in the first place, wouldn`t he police dept of whatever town they came from have called and said something along the lines of "Hey Mr. So and so, we need to talk to you" ? This is kind of funny. Just so you know, this was purchased from a company in another state. Not from the one I live in.

 

[FlyingRon]

First off, finding them at a recycler isn't likely to prove they weren't stolen.

The access cards are a sensitive issue and if you are selling them, you're going to have problems. Similarly any modifications to the boxes to defeat DirecTV's licensing of the content is ILLEGAL regardless of where the boxes came from.

The boxes themselves, provided they properly entered the retail stream (and aren't stolen) are yours to sell.

Either way, DirecTV is free to be a "horses patooty".

Ebay will roll over on DirecTV complaints (as a matter of fact, Ebay outright bans selling the cards themselves). You'll have to fight that legal battle yourself. Tons of legitimate (no card) DirecTV auctions on ebay.

 

[stilen621]

Thanks Ron. There is/wasn`t any access card with the unit. I would never sell a unit with one. I know they are property of DTV and they are against Ebays listing policies. Other than a DTV sticker on this thing there are no other markings saying what it is. IE,,no model or serial number etc,,I mean NOTHING. I spoke to the guy this morning and I asked him how he could prove they were indeed stolen and he said when the police come knock at my door and arrest me I`ll know. He then just hung up. I mean how would you even report something with no markings or serial numbers on it stolen to begin with ? Uh officer, it`s a black box !

 

[stilen621]

Just a quick follow up and a question. I called this guy after I got home from work yesterday asking where he would like the unit sent to. After getting all the info and trying to explain to him I had no idea it was stolen and would never knowingly do anything of the sort (I also provide him with contact info from who I got it from) After all was pretty much said and done he finished by saying I was lucky because I didnt want to tangle with a billion dollar company, blah blah blah, How he was going to have my satellite service shut off, how he was going to have my Ebay & PayPal accounts closed, then to top it off he had Ebay remove two of my listings that were not in violation of any rules or laws whatsoever (The two listings were for property OWNED by me). I called Ebay and talked to them and they agreed with me that I had not violated any of their rules, but when a company tells them to remove a listing, they just do it. I then got 4 strikes on my account because of this guy and my account is teetering on being suspended because of this guy and what he has done. I don`t make allot of money on these things but it helps pay my utilities during these tough times. Do I have any recourse against this guy ? My roomate has listed to his messages and has overheard our phone conversations ( you can hear his voice a mile away) and says Hitler looks like the Pope compared to this guy. I bet if this guy had a rope it would already be around my neck.