United States v. Jack Lande
Opinion
Opinion
Browning, J.
Jack Lande modified General Instruments Videocipher II descrambler units to enable home satellite dish owners to view scrambled pay television programming without payment. He pled guilty to numerous charges and was sentenced to 35 months in prison.
Before pleading guilty, Lande moved to dismiss charges against him based on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) (also known as Title I or the Wiretap Law), 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521 , arguing the ECPA does not apply to piracy of satellite television. The district court denied his motion. Lande’s guilty plea reserved his right to appeal the denial. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2).
The Circuits are divided as to whether the ECPA prohibits modification of descramblers to allow unauthorized viewing of scrambled satellite television. Compare United States v. McNutt, 908 F.2d 561 (10th Cir.1990) (holding section 2512 of the ECPA prohibits modification of descramblers) with United States v. Herring, 933 F.2d 932 (11th Cir.1991) and United States v. Hux, 940 F.2d 314 (8th Cir.1991) (2-1) (reaching the opposite conclusion). We agree with the Tenth Circuit that the ECPA does apply, and affirm the district court.