Television piracy

Quebecor is pleased with the Federal Court of Canada's August 10 decision in the lawsuit filed by TVA Group, Videotron and other Canadian media companies. The Court ordered a group of retailers to cease the distribution and sale of set-top boxes that allow unauthorized or illegal access to Canadian television content, and to pay nearly $30 million in damages.

The Federal Court's decision and the financial penalty demonstrate the seriousness of acts of television signal and content piracy, which constitute copyright infringement and are detrimental to Québec's entire content creation industry. Quebecor invests heavily in content production in order to offer viewers high-quality programming. The level of subscriptions to specialty channels, in particular, is essential to the pursuit of this commitment.

Legal actions are among the concrete steps Quebecor has taken to protect itself against content theft. Quebecor will continue fighting vigorously against the piracy of its content and the theft of television signals, as it has done in the past. This issue has serious implications for jobs in the television industry and for the economy as a whole, and ultimately hurts all consumers.