Oh Canada! 

Canadians according to Canadian law might be one of the largest groups of pirates that history has ever seen if we exclude online music piracy.  Snagging free MP3 files garnishes a great deal of attention, but were you aware that almost a million Canadians or better are stealing Satellite signals not sanctioned by the Canadian government?

That’s right Canadians are picking up signals that include everything from Dish Network to XM Satellite radio wherever they can get it.  Funny thing is these Pirates are not stealing from the satellite company, they are paying for the content!  They set up illegal ‘offshore’ accounts in the US to pay their cable bills. 

Technically its on the same shore but from a legal jurisdiction perspective a Sovereign nation can be viewed as offshore, in fact some states within the US even offer Offshore banking to citizens of other states in the US.  Caribbean climates don’t often come to mind when we think about offshore banking in Montana or Nevada but that is the way it is.

The services do not necessarily mind and the equipment dealers and distributors make a fortune from the practice as US satellite receivers of both cable TV and radio can command double the price seen in the US as its smuggled into Canada and sold on the black market.

Up until recently the service considered the Canadian consumers as more of a smuggler than a pirate and turned a blind eye mostly to the activity.  But recent crack downs of forces from both the government and the cable companies are making some Canadians see red or more precisely static as their cable connection is removed.

Now many Canadians are beginning to demand their satellite rights to American shows.  Canada despite the North American Free Trade Agreement has a very long history of protectionism within its broadcast industry.  Protected markets however cannot always survive market forces and taking away someone’s cable, well those are fighting words where I come from.  Let’s hope Canada does not break down into the quagmire of civil war over this very important and difficult issue.

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