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Defendant fined $40,000 and ordered to pay $35,000 in costs for civil contempt.
The defendants were previously found in civil contempt of an interlocutory injunction prohibiting the sale of set-top boxes that provided unauthorized access to the plaintiffs' television programming.
In this sentencing decision, the Federal Court rejected the plaintiffs' requests for a 90-day jail sentence and a $200,000 fine, finding them manifestly excessive.
Instead, considering the scale of the operation, the defendants' delayed apology, and comparable cases, the Court imposed a fine of $40,000 payable over 24 months, backed by the threat of imprisonment for default, and awarded $35,000 in costs.
