NCJ Number
108988
Journal
Emory Law Journal Volume: 35 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1986) Pages: 643-681
Date Published
1986
Length
39 pages
Annotation
This article discusses a theft-of-cable-services statute proposed for the State of Georgia and it explains how the proposed statute would make prosecutions for cable services theft feasible.
Abstract
The proposed statute prohibits a broad range of specific acts involved in cable theft, allows for the use of presumptions in the prosecutions of cable thieves, and provides both civil and criminal penalties. The proposed statute is based upon Section 633 of the Federal Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, but it attempts to improve on Section 633 by making convictions and judgments easier to obtain. The article describes two kinds of cable theft.The first occurs when a non-subscriber makes an unauthorized connection to the cable system in order to receive cable services. The second occurs when a lawful subscriber to the basic cable service obtains unauthorized reception of one or more premium services. The authors discuss the constitutionality of the proposed statute and point out that existing prohibitions against cable theft are inadequate. They argue that the proposed statute will permit the cable operator to proceed directly against those stealing services from him and it will enable the operator to obtain a judgment upon a showing of certain facts that occur only when cable services have been stolen. The text of the proposed statute is included in the article. 195 footnotes.