RadioShack Canada Applauds Supreme Court Satellite Ruling

[tv_guy]

TORONTO, April 30, 2002 - Brian Levy, CEO InterTAN Inc., parent company of RadioShack Canada and Battery Plus, announced this week his company's strong support of the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling that makes it illegal to subscribe to or illegally decode foreign satellite signals.

"RadioShack Canada welcomes the court's decision and supports it whole-heartedly," said Levy. "Many Canadians think signal piracy is a victimless crime, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The negative impact of these illegal and illegitimate practices ripple through many sectors of the Canadian economy and deprive companies of revenues essential to justify their infrastructure and technology investments in Canada."

RadioShack Canada, one of Canada's leading retailers of satellite and cable television products, has been a strong supporter of industry partners such as StarChoice and Bell ExpressVu in asking for tougher laws against companies that offer illegal installation, service and programming packages.

"While we are very pleased by today's ruling, we don't expect this to be the last word on the issue," said Levy. "We call on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and Minister Sheila Copps to clearly lay out in legislation protections for Canada's broadcasters and content providers. Canadian jobs are at stake here."

Beyond the financial impact the illegal satellite market has on Canadian companies, these illegal systems have also drawn revenue away from the Canadian Television Fund. This fund is partially supported by cable and satellite providers and is used to produce high-quality Canadian television shows for broadcast across Canada and internationally.