Three Puerto Rican Men Arrested on Federal Charges in Dish Network Services Piracy Scheme
A complex scheme to steal copyrighted content for financial gain through the interception of encrypted Dish Network signals has been uncovered in Puerto Rico. Three men have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to circumvent protective systems, infringe copyrights and traffic in satellite decryption devices.
The indictment, unsealed on November 2, charges Arnaldo Vazquez, 41, also known as “Naldo,” aka “naldo.dish;” Awildo Jimenez, 36, aka “Wildo,” “joselo626,” and “wildo20;” and Higinio Lamboy, 46, aka “Ingi,” with one count of conspiracy to circumvent protective systems, infringe copyrights and traffic in satellite decryption devices, one substantive count of trafficking in technology designed to circumvent technology copyright protection systems and one substantive count of circumventing a technological measure that protects a copyrighted work.
The indictment describes Vazquez and Jimenez as owners and operators of a company that provided the pirated services to customers who paid a monthly cash fee to receive copyrighted content delivered from Dish satellites and identifies Lamboy as their salesman and repairman for the hardware that they provided to their customers.
The indictment alleges that the defendants used Dish’s network control words, or decrypted code, and placed them onto an Internet Key Sharing (IKS) server, which was under their control. Placing the control words on the IKS server aided the decryption and distribution of the pirated content. The defendants also provided their customers with receivers that were programmed with software that allowed them to bypass Dish’s anti-piracy measures, which then allowed their customers to connect to the conspirators’ bootleg IKS server to access the copyrighted content.
The indictment alleges that the defendants used online chat forums to discuss their criminal enterprise, resolve technical problems related to their Dish piracy, and facilitate the payment for their criminal deeds and purchase of equipment needed to further their scheme.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This case is the result of the investigative efforts of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Kebharu Smith of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Cannon of the District of Puerto Rico.
Defendant Information:
Defendant Name: Arnaldo Vazquez, Awildo Jimenez, Higinio Lamboy
Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to circumvent protective systems, infringe copyrights and traffic in satellite decryption devices, trafficking in technology designed to circumvent technology copyright protection systems, and circumventing a technological measure that protects a copyrighted work.
City and State: Puerto Rico
Arrest Date: November 2, 2022
Sentence or Outcome: Currently in custody pending trial
Company Involved: Dish Network
Key Facts
- State: Colorado
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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