EDMONTON — Super Channel’s parent company, Allarco Entertainment, has officially launched a lawsuit against four major Canadian retailers, claiming the stores were complicit in promoting the downloading and streaming of illegal content on pirate devices sold in their retail outlets.
The four retailers named in the lawsuit are Best Buy, Staples, Canada Computers and London Drugs. The lawsuit was filed in the Federal Court on September 11, and Allarco issued a news release today to publicize the details of its claim against the four retail companies.
Allarco says the lawsuit comes after a 19-month, country-wide undercover investigation of in-store practices by sales personnel, including supervisors and managers, in the four Canadian retailers’ stores. Allarco’s claim is supported by more than 100 hours of audio and video recorded surveillance, documenting 150 events, the company said in the news release.
“After FairPlay Canada’s application to block illegal pirating websites was denied by the CRTC, I felt that something else needed to be done in the war against content piracy,” said Don McDonald, president and CEO of Super Channel, in the news release. “When we discovered that employees from major retailers were actively promoting the downloading and streaming of illegal content to their customers when selling pirate devices with Kodi software, we decided to take a closer look and were shocked at what we found. There is a complacency around this issue with these retailers that needs to be addressed. Our goal is to lead in changing the culture around the acceptance of content piracy. People need to be aware that it is actual stealing; it is not a victimless crime and should be treated as such.”
In its statement of claim, Allarco states the four retailers (referred to as the “4Stores Defendants” in the claim), including their employees, “have promoted, encouraged, or instructed the alteration or use of Internet Streaming Dvices that can be used or are used for copyright infringement.”
In its undercover investigation, Allarco found that all four stores were complicit in promoting, educating, or instructing consumers on how to download and stream illegal content onto pirate devices using Kodi software, without payment to the content copyright owner or broadcaster. In some cases, customers were referred to services that could assist them with the process, Allarco said. The company’s investigation also revealed that selling the Internet streaming devices preloaded with Kodi software enabled pirating of copyrighted content right off the shelf, including Super Channel series such as The Oath and others.
“I felt we couldn’t continue to sit back and knowingly allow these retail practices to continue,” McDonald said. “We must take action and encourage all other broadcasters and industry partners to join us. We want the devices removed from the shelves and destroyed. We want each of the stores to adopt and enforce a strict employee policy which will prohibit their employees from engaging, educating, and promoting content piracy at work and at home, and for the public to realize that when they are acquiring content using these devices, without paying for it legitimately, they are stealing.”
Super Channel has recently enforced its own Employee Anti-Piracy Policy in which all employees and contractors working with the company must agree to not download, stream or watch illegally acquired content, at work or at home, as a condition of employment. McDonald said in the company’s news release that he hopes other broadcasters, distributors, and content producers will soon follow suit.
McDonald said he plans to discuss his views on this issue with members of the Canadian Communications Systems Alliance while attending the CCSA Connect conference this week in Kelowna, B.C.
None of the allegations in Allarco’s statement of claim have been proven in court. A motion record containing an affidavit that sets out the extensive evidence gathered, including undercover surveillance, will soon be filed, Allarco said.
To view the company’s statement of claim and to view a video of the investigation, visit: www.changetheculture.ca.
