Friday, June 09, 2006

Legal Advice required on Protecting Rights of CBNSat Customer

Is there a lawyer or a legal advisor reading this forum. We want to know how the customer can protect their rights.

CBNSat has thousands of customers who have spent their hard earned money to purchase their connections. Several CBNSat customers are emailing me and asking me how they can take action and appeal to the courts to restore transmissions.

I appeal to any lawyer or legal advisor so come forward and protect the rights of the customers. The customers purchased CBNSat connections because it is a BOI approved company and the site gives information that they are a sattellite broadcaster.

The TRC cannot go around with the CID and raid and close down companies based on political influence. It is high time the Cable TV viewers in Sri Lanka formed an association and also the Cable TV companies must form an Association.

Please do not post unneccessary stuff instead lets now focus on the rights of consumers, I appeal to customers of other Cable TV companies to help in this effort.
Because remember the people who caused this can put their hand and disrupt other companies such as Comet Cable and LBN also.

The CBNSat customers are willing to ride out this storm and stick to CBNSat and most of them do not want to change service providers, but it now to time for the consumer rights to be upheld.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a lawyer.

It will never work. In a country where corruption is the norm and shady businessmen can influence politicians into directing police to shut down competitors, can we really expect the courts to be immune to similar pressure?

Just rack this up as another experience where Sri Lankan politicians pull down the pants of thier own electore and makes sure they are painfully screwed.

The best advice anyone could give would be to make sure that noone from the political intelligentsia/traditional rulers of Sri Lanka has any influence after the next election, and that people actually vote for honourable men and women. I doubt it will be allowed to happen though - anyone who would be precieved as a threat to the existing rulers would be jailed or discredited to make sure there's no change.

So for now, I'll watch the WC on a bloody DishTV connection, even if it means feeding the wolves. After the world cup, maybe I'll cancel my subscription and do more reading instead - until there's CBNSat or some other morally acceptable provider.

Anonymous said...

"The best advice anyone could give would be to make sure that noone from the political intelligentsia/traditional rulers of Sri Lanka has any influence after the next election, and that people actually vote for honourable men and women.".

The above would mean that Aliens will have to contest the Election and then win it right!!!

Anonymous said...

Better Watch the World Cup on Rupavahini instead of feeding Hulugalle's wolves.

Anonymous said...

"The above would mean that Aliens will have to contest the Election and then win it right!!!"

I disagree. There are honourable men and women in Sri Lanka that would put the wellbeing of citizens before their own. The problem is that with the current (not recently, we are talking decades) repressive tactics from those in power an honest candidate doesn't stand a chance.

I don't have an answer, nor it is my responsibility, but I know if this was MY country, I'd consider my choices and either be the change I wanted to see or jump ship.

Anonymous said...

i spoke to the customer care people of CBNsat, they say that we have to wait till monday till the court hearing.

Anonymous said...

I am sure this has been instigated by a competitor who has some political clout (influence). We should not let this happen again. Today it is CBN tomorrow it might be you or me.

My opinion is that we must teach these buggers a lesson. We should collectively take steps to do this. By just writing in this blog and not doing anything will not help any of us in any way.

What I propose is that we boycott products of companies that promotes, sell or act as represent the competitor who put up the authorities to these paraya business tactics.

Let us start to day. If not they will do it again to us another day in another day.

Anonymous said...

First of all i believe the Courts are not fully corrupted. And i strongly believe justice will be served and CBN will be back on air on Monday.

In case justice is not served, and CBN is banned forever, i for one will NOT move to SAtnet. I will live the rest of my life inside a cardboard box rather than having to watch thelingu and urdu bullcrap Hurugalle's gay service will provide. Mr. HUrugalle you've already lost this battle man, i give you the finger (the "fuck you" sign). In my view banning CBN= end of satellite communication's golden era in SL.

I am boycotting SAtnet and it's indian bullshit. And SAtnet will be a profitable business when some place very hot (hell) freezes over. And for those who switch (not many asi see it) to SATnet to view the world cup, i am disgusted at you. In my view you guys are the roots of encouraging foul tactics. You couldnt wait 2 days till MOnday? Will you eat shit if you are given no food for a while too? Stop being so selfish.

And i saw some ppl (once again, not many) from comet cable laugh at CBNsat customers and their current situation. Great work guys you will make the destruction of SL complete one day.

Many of us are with CBNsat. It is only two more days we have to wait. GO CBN, OWN em all them bitches!

Terminator out.

Anonymous said...

"And for those who switch (not many asi see it) to SATnet to view the world cup, i am disgusted at you. In my view you guys are the roots of encouraging foul tactics. You couldnt wait 2 days till MOnday? Will you eat shit if you are given no food for a while too? Stop being so selfish."

Chill out mate, don't be all aggro! For me football is religion. I'd like to see you turn down the only chance to watch Sri Lanka in the Cricket World Cup based on principles.

When/if CBNSat goes online again I will switch. If they don't, then I'll live without satellite television after the initial 3-month subscription lapses. I wish I could be more principled, but really - I cannot.

As for the shit analogy, it is inherently flawed. For my specific purposes (the Football World Cup), CBNSat and SATnet are technically equally good solutions. It is only morally they differ - ESPN adn Star Sports look and sound the same. I think a more appropriate analogy would have been:

"Will you eat food from a restaurant whose owner you don't like rather than starve to death"

Anonymous said...

We all have our own views. I respect your view.

But your tuning to SAtnet for whatever reason ultimately gives pleasure to Hurugalle, as his business expands. Remember he is the main reason you can't watch CBNsat.

P.S.-Football is my favorite sport too. Channel eye shows most of the matches LIVE.

Terminator out.

Anonymous said...

Take a read about the press release.

http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?newsID=686513960&no_view=1&SEARCH_TERM=5

Anonymous said...

I think we have to wait till Monday to see some action to restart transmitting of CBNSat channels. If not I think we have to come forward to safeguard our rights as the customers.

We have spent our hard earned money on CBNSat equipment to get Information, be educated and to entertain our kids. Can a single corrupt person using his political powers to stop all that. Where is BOI to protect the investors and why is TRC so silent over the whole issue. They will also need to come forward and tell what this is all about. They are the ones who should protect customers.

When CBNSat commenced operations it was not secretly done. The Approval have been obtained from BOI for the company and from TRC for their equipment. And SonicNet also have obtained the necessary licences from TRC for their operations. TRC is there to guide the investors and companies and to set guidelines. So if CBNSat or SonicNet is starting an operation they should have issued necessary licences complying with the country’s law.

We all know that the satellite broadcasting equipment is sensitive and it cannot be brought down secretly. Even the ministry of defence have approved the import of Satellite broadcasting equipment for CBNsat & SonicNet Technologies. And these equipment is being Used by the government broadcasting institutions like Rupavahini and ITN. So does that means that government also used illegal transmission.

So the final conclusion should be if CBNSat have violated any law they should be fined and given a proper licence to restart their services immediately. Otherwise if CBNsat operations are legal and they have all the necessary approval and licences the culprits behind this whole scene should be brought out and they’ll have to pay CBNSat for the damage they have caused not only to the Brand name of CBNsat but to the whole country and the prospective investors.

Either way as a peoples government I believe the CBNSat services should be restored ASAP safeguarding the rights of 20,000 customers. TRC is established to safeguard the consumer. And the country’s law is to protect people. And BOI’s duty is to set the guidelines for the investors as per the country’s law to carry out a decent business.

We all can see a result in few hours time.

My only hope is that it should be in favour of the 20,000 households across Sri Lanka.

Anonymous said...

PRESS STATEMENT OF 09.06.2006 OF COMMUNIQ BROADBAND NETWORK (PRIVATE) LIMITED WHICH CARRIES BUSINESS UNDER THE NAME AND STYLE OF CBNSAT.

1) CBNSat's customers have not since approximately 9 p.m. on Tuesday 6th June 2006 been available to access all channels including BBC, CNN, Discovery etc.

2) To dispel any false rumours or allegations the company wishes to present the facts of what has happened and why customers are not able to access those channels.

3) CBNSat is able to provide its services to its customers primarily through a company called SonicNet Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd.

4) SonicNet Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd. Has a license granted to it by the Minister of Mass Media and Communications in 2003 which authorises it to provide services as set out in the licence.

5) SonicNet Technologies (Private) Limited also has obtained all necessary approvals for all the equipment it uses from the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.

6) It is the company’s position that CBNSat does not require a licence to carry out the activities which it has been carrying out since 27.05.2005.

7) On a complaint made by a person or persons the Additional Magistrate of Colombo issued a search warrant to the Criminal Investigations Department to search CBNSat’s premises. SonicNet Technology (Pvt.) Ltd’s equipment is situated at the same location.

8) CID officers raided the premises of CBNSat and SonicNet Technologies (Private) Ltd. On 06.06.2006. Both companies cooperated fully with the CID.

9) Although the learned Magistrate granted permission for the search to take place from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. the presence of the CID officers continued till much later in the evening.

10) The Learned Magistrate did not in his order confer any power on the CID to seize or switch off SonicNet’s equipment.

11) Because of the equipment of SonicNet Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd. Being switched off unlawfully and without any reasonable of justifiable ground the customers of CBNSat cannot access the channels mentioned above any longer.

12) A Magistrates’ Court hearing took place on 8th June 2006 at which lawyers appearing for SonicNet Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd. Made extensive submissions. However the proceedings have been adjourned for Monday the 12th of June, 2006.

13) CBNSat is hopeful that the learned Magistrate will make such Orders as are necessary to undo the damage caused by the action taken by the CID in excess of the powers granted to it under the search warrant.

THE STEPS TAKEN SO FAR TO KEEP CUSTOMERS INFORMED

1) Before the equipment of SonicNet Technologies was switched off, CBNSat sent a message to its customers on Tuesday night at approximately 9 p.m. informing them that they would be unable to access the channels due to unavoidable circumstances.
2) CBNSat has instructed its staff to inform its customers that CBNSat has sought legal advice and will be taking appropriate action in Court.
3) CBNSat will issue press releases as often as possible to keep its customers informed of the progress of the legal actions being taken by it and by SonicNet Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd.

As for SonicNet Technologies (Private) Limited, it has also made representations to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to hold an inquiry and to restore the service pending such inquiry.

Until the CID action is reversed or reviewed, SonicNet Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd. will, unless it is otherwise advised, be unable to switch its equipment back on.

Until SonicNet Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd.’s equipment is switched back on, approximately 20,000 customers of CBNSat in all parts of Sri Lanka and abroad will be unable to access the above channels.

CBNSat deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to its customers but vows that no effort will be spared to restore services as soon as possible.

Anonymous said...

I dont think Mr.Channel Nine would not have gained a single connection on his relaunched bull shit after resorting to his old tactics.

Some sunday paper reported that a wife of a politicaly influencial person with a stake in the trade was talking to the CID lawyers after the hearing on Tuesday,This bitch must be Mrs.Channel Nine,Must have been offering her cunt to the CID to fix a satnet in it,its better to use her arshole to fix a transmittor so that her husband can uplink SATnet or whatever bullshit they are trying to promote by resorting to channel nine ways.

Anonymous said...

Mrs Nine must be sleeping with the CID guys prior to the case today as she was making an appointment after the court case last Tuesday.

Coruppted and high handed bitches and MFs like this should be thaught a lesson.CBNsat should clearly claim a huge sum as damages from these individuals for what they have done to the general public.

Its a pity that the government as usual is playing in to the hands of people who may be more coruppted than the ones involved in the VAT scam.Ultimately the government is getting unpopular and unpopular with actions of this nature,and who knows.

Anonymous said...

I would like to view this problem from a different angle.

I guess very few had thought about this before except some technically knowledgeable people.

First of all, this is for your info and without going into much technical jargon,
the decoder or the set top box (STB) provided by CBNsat is locked. That means the customers are not allowed to view FTA (Free to Air) channels which are available by the hundreds.
Why would they do that? The reason is, they can charge for FTA channels too. They wanted to grab the whole heap oranges and now you can see what has happened.
If they hadn't locked the recorder the impacts would not have felt this strongly after the termination of the service. The customer would have been happier with few inconveniences until CBNsat would take it’s time to untangle them selves from this legal muddle. But now it’s all or nothing situation while the customers complain no one can do anything positive about the situation.

Anonymous said...

w32,

I totaly agree with you,Why should watch all those thelingu,urudu etc,What CBN did was exactly correct and all the channels given by them were under a legal agreement,see what has happened to BBC world from 16th of this month and i hear CBNsat hold the exclusive hold on the channel once it is encrypted and others have to get from them.

If you even want to watch all the free to air ones go to pettah and get a dish and a receiver but dont buy SATnet who gives all this shit on their network,because Mr.BULUGALLE and some suckers in the government establishments are clearly to be blamed for this fiasco,and the general public should give the answer to thieves like this.

Anonymous said...

Some of you have completely missed my point.

I agree that all of you sought the services of CBNsat because you wanted to watch premium channels. They have done a pretty good job at that too.

What I do not agree is that they have actively locked the decoder.
If you have paid for the decoder it's your property. Why does the CBNsat care what we do with it? It's up to the individual to decide what they watch, whether it is thelingu or mandarin. We must have the right to decide what we do with it. Take the dooms day scenario, if CBNsat never goes online again, what on earth shall we do with this LOCKED decoder?

I don't want to be LOCKED down like that and many people will agree with that for sure.

Anonymous said...

Dear Bitrate,

Is this info confirmed ? What is the source ?? Anyway they can't shut down satnet because its DishTV of India and the channels are being uplinked from India. Good for Hulugalle again !

Anonymous said...

Hulugalle may like a dish being inserted upon his ass but GOSL, CID or anyone can't order to shut down Dish TV as it is based in India.

Anonymous said...

Hey W32@bitrate.vbr

You are absolutely correct on that.
That's correct because no TV vendor in SL is also the content provider at the same time.
And you have again missed my point. Why should we have to be bogged down with locked decoder?
You can read books while you are in prison and you can do it outside as well. The prison will decide what books u should read and so on and so forth.
What's more fun and better is for the reader to decide.

Anonymous said...

hey W32@bitrate.vbr

In other words you prefer reading English/Sinhala or tamil books in a prison rather than be in the open.

Again I ask you, why do any one wants to be bogged down with this decoder. If CBNsat had provided us with an unlocked device it would have even add value to the decoder.

By the way it's not only urdu and Thelingu FTA channels out there.

Anonymous said...

Its going to be a happy ending Rupavahini has i think agreed to issue whatever the technical licence within 48 hours to CBN on submission of papers and they have supposed to undertaken in courts issue same without any objection and CBN has been asked to furnish the receipt on the 16th for clearance.

As for the other operators warrents have been issued to all of them and they too will have to go through many a procedure and i hear some of the operators doesnt have licence of any sorts and some are said to posess the one from TRC and not from Rupavahini and some from Rupavahini and not from TRC.

It seems that Hulugalle has fallen into his own trap.

Anonymous said...

All right if someone wants to go by that line so be it.
CBNsat uses SIM card witch is technologically advanced.
In plain English for someone who does not have the technological knowledge as by fellow blogger W32@bitrate.vbr the decoder is useless.
Or I’d rather use the word LOCKED. Once the service is gone the decoder is quite useless. What if we had a more flexible decoder?
What if we had the FTA channels now? What if we had a decoder like DreamBox 500 (http://www.dream-multimedia.ca/dm500.cfm)

Anonymous said...

No no even without a sim card this decoder cant receive FTA channels. There are about 11 FTA channels in PAS 12 satellite which CBNsat uses. 6 is absolute crap. 4 is blessing TV thats a tamil christian channel which is again total crap. the other one is NTT (National Televivion of Tamil Eelam)

So who wants to see this shitty channels ? Anyway FTA is absoute crap. if u'd like to see those go to pettah and buy the whole system for Rs. 8500/= and you can watch all indian gujarati, marati, telugu, kannada etc !

Anonymous said...

to rabbithole
On top left hand corner of the decoder, there are words "CBNsat" imprinted. That means the decoder is built to provide a premium service by CBN. They are doing a business they are not a charity organisation to provide 100 FTa channels and having their brand recognition lowered (ex-SATnet, provides 100+ FTA, but no one gives a fuck). They optimized their decoders to receive their signals not FTA bullcrap.

If you want to watch FTA channels, swtich to SATnet(it's illegal now too haha) or buy a crap dish for 8500 from fort.

And is it true about rupavahini agreeing to provide CBN with the licence? If that happens they will go on air on 16th rt?

And i just hope SATnet would get banned. If that happens, hulugalle, after kissing a lot of ass, will be forced to eat his own shit in the end.

-terminator out.

Anonymous said...

I can't understand. Will CBNsat really get a license from Rupavahini and be able to begin broadcasts on the 14th or 16th?
All I know is that the courts have called all the cable tv providers to reveiw their licenses.

Anonymous said...

Rupavahini will provide a licence for CBNSat on Wednesday. After producing it to court hopefully they can restart their services soon.

Anonymous said...

Additional Magistrate orders CID Director to investigate radio and three TV channels

by Sandasen Marasinghe

COLOMBO: Colombo Additional Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya yesterday issued search warrants and ordered the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department to investigate the transmission system of three Television Channels and one Radio Channel allegedly functioning without valid licences.

The Judge made this order yesterday when the CBN Sat and Sonic Network Technologies case was taken up for hearing.

These two companies were sealed by the Colombo Crime Division on June 6.

The Judge ordered the CID to submit its reports of the investigation within two days following investigations of the transmission systems of Sat Net (Pvt) Ltd earlier known as TV Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Electro Tech (Pvt) Ltd, Multivision Com Net Cable (Pvt) Ltd and the LBN Lanka (Pvt) Ltd Radio Channel.

The Court also ordered the Directors of the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation to provide the CID with expert knowledge in their investigations.

The Judge observed that it was unjust to seal one television channel while there were many other channels functioning without valid licences. The Court ordered the closure of the CBN Sat would continue until a determination is made.

The Judge instructed the Director of the SLTRC Kanchana Ratwatte to help the CBN Sat Pvt Ltd to obtain the licence if it does not have the proper licence. Since there were around 25000 customers of that company the judge instructed that this process be speeded up .

The case was put off for June 14. Senior State Counsel Gihan Kulathunga, Senior State Counsel Sumana Dharmawardana, Senior Superintendent of Police Ravi Vidyalankara Sub Inspector M.R. Dayaratne appeared for the prosecution while President's Counsel M.L.M. Ameen, President's Counsel Ikram Mohammed, Ian Fernando, Sadi Wadud, Riyad Ameen and Sajeewa Antony appeared for the defence.

Source:DailyNews

Anonymous said...

I was wondering...
Are there any new channels to come to CBNsat soon. I ask th people to please post information about this.

And er.. why isn't their a new blog yet?

Anonymous said...

I hear lots of channels are going to come and CBNsat should and certainly will componsate its subscribers for their patience and loyalty.

Its good if they could recommence the transmission along with the new channels(which i hear they already have secured the rights),so that crooks like HULUGALLE will have to fart against thunder.

I personaly feel they should further concentrate on getting premier channels such as TEN SPORTS,STAR MOVIES & STAR WORLD (ENTIRE STAR PACKAGE),With these it would become a complete platform and our wish is towards that.

Anonymous said...

I think the discussions are going with TEN SPORTS. With all this trouble it will take sometime for it to come. But definitely TEN SPORTS will soon be on CBNSat.

Definitely I beleive CBNsat will respect their customers for their patience.

Anonymous said...

With all these dont know what Mr.Satnets next move is,he is so cunning and coruppted that he can bowl these kind of doorsas better than MURALI and the googly better than WARNE and specialy in these Sri Lankan Wickets.

So CBNsat should be prepared to face all his deleveries with a STRAIGHT BAT as done freequently in the recent past by the Aussie skipper RIKEY PONTING.

And hopefully we beleive that the umpire will be 100% correct as SIMON TAUFFEL OR ALEEM DAAR.

Anonymous said...

Knowing hullugalla ,He might not keep his hands pointed at CBNsat itself he might even get the " good guys" to check the whole CBNsat group.

Anonymous said...

Like I said before we should all boycot and not buy products of the company that wells and promotes SatNet. Those people and companies doing business with SatNet should dissassociate them selves with such Goons that use political influence to use and abuse power...