NDS is pleased to announce that pursuant to the decision on 23 January 2012 by the Supreme Court of the United States of America to deny a petition to hear a challenge by EchoStar1 (NASDAQ: SATS) and Kudelski (SIX:KUD.S), it has received full payment of US$18,935,399.49 for damages in recognition that NDS were found sole prevailing party and vindicated of all allegations of piracy.
Dr. Abe Peled, Executive Chairman, NDS Group commented: "This brings an end to this long drawn-out process in which we vehemently denied all allegations of piracy which were made against us over a decade ago. Piracy is an issue throughout the industry and injurious to all in the value chain; it is only with the active anti-piracy efforts of companies such as ourselves that the pay-TV industry is able to evolve and continue to enable people to enjoy premium TV viewing."
Dr. Peled continued: "NDS is a global leader in the fight against pay-TV piracy, having repeatedly and successfully assisted law enforcement in that important effort. We have an established record of successfully protecting billions of dollars worth of content for our customers and will continue in our efforts to secure their business."
He concluded: "It is testament to the work of our employees that our business, and that of our customers, has continued to grow and enable innovation in not only content security but software solutions that enable us to change the way the world is entertained and informed. As one of Europe's largest software providers and the global industry's leading, we are proud to be supporting industry growth and development for the next generation."
The facts are these:
- In 2003, EchoStar filed a US$2 billion claim against NDS alleging that in the 90's NDS was responsible for the compromise of EchoStar's satellite television programming platform through the posting of code on the DR7 website. NDS vigorously defended the allegations made against it, establishing that NDS played no part in the compromise of EchoStar's security system.
- In August 2010, the Ninth Circuit stated in its decision that "EchoStar did not succeed 'on any significant issue' or 'achieve any of the benefit it sought in bringing suit' under the Communications Act." The Ninth Circuit awarded NDS US$18 million and concluded that "There is no question that NDS successfully defended against all of EchoStar's claims based on or related to its theory that NDS was responsible for the compromise of EchoStar's satellite television programming security system."
- In February 2011, the Ninth Circuit further stated, "NDS was the prevailing party in this litigation and that EchoStar fails to meet the legal definition of a prevailing party on any of its claims."
- In January 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States of America denied a petition to hear a challenge by EchoStar. EchoStar and NDS agreed that the terms for satisfying the judgment should be met by 9 March 2012.
- On 9 March 2012, NDS received from EchoStar the remaining balance of US$18,935,399.49, in full satisfaction of the final judgment, including district court fees and costs, appellate court fees and costs and all interest.
About NDS
NDS Group Ltd. creates the technologies and applications that enable pay-TV operators to securely deliver digital content to TV STBs (set-top boxes), DVRs (digital video recorders), PCs, mobiles and other multimedia devices. Over 90 of the world's leading pay-TV platforms rely on NDS solutions to protect and enhance their business.
NDS' VideoGuard® is the world's market-leading content and service protection solution, deployed in 125 million pay-TV households. VideoGuard conditional access (CA) and digital rights management (DRM) technologies safeguard pay-TV service revenues exceeding $50 billion. NDS middleware, which enables a host of advanced services for subscribers, has been deployed on 214 million devices. NDS DVR technology, centred around XTV™, is a leader in the global industry with 47 million units deployed. (Deployment figures as of 31st December 2011).
Headquartered in the UK, with over 5000 employees, NDS remains committed to investing in technology and development with over 75% of its employees dedicated to pioneering work at development centres in France, India, Israel, Korea, UK and US.
NDS Group Ltd. is a private company owned by the Permira Funds and News Corporation. See www.nds.com for more information.
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1 EchoStar refers to the collective entities EchoStar Satellite Corporation, now known as Dish Network LLC, EchoStar Communications Corporation, EchoStar Technologies Corporation and NagraStar L.L.C., a joint venture company between the EchoStar parties and Kudelski Group
Contacts:
NDS
Amy Lucas, +44 20 8476 8243
Corporate Communications
alucas@nds.com
