Freeman

This case requires us to determine whether sections of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”), 18 U.S.C. §§ 2702 and 2707, provide for a private cause of action against those who aid and abet, or conspire with, electronic communications service providers in unlawfully disseminating the contents of electronic communications. The language of §§ 2702 and 2707 identifies unambiguously who is subject to liability. Furthermore, the legislative history and case law is in accord with these sections’ clear directive. Accordingly, we decline to read into the text of these code sections claims for secondary liability. Rather, we interpret the code to mean what it plainly says.

I

DirecTV is a provider of satellite digital television. To protect its service and prevent the unauthorized viewing of its television programing, DirecTV encrypts its satellite transmissions. DirecTV actively pursues legal action against those individuals involved in the unauthorized use, or in more common parlance, the pirating, of its encrypted transmissions.

On June 24, 2003, DirecTV filed a lawsuit in Canada against Daryl Gray. Gray operated a number of web sites from his home in British Columbia,…