Comcast of Los Angeles, Inc. v. Sandoval (In re Sandoval)

341 B.R. 282, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 539
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, C.D. California
DecidedMarch 31, 2006
DocketBankruptcy No. LA 05-24453SB; Adversary No. LA-05-02196-SB
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 341 B.R. 282 (Comcast of Los Angeles, Inc. v. Sandoval (In re Sandoval)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Comcast of Los Angeles, Inc. v. Sandoval (In re Sandoval), 341 B.R. 282, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 539 (Cal. 2006).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AFTER TRIAL

SAMUEL L. BUFFORD, Bankruptcy Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Creditor Comcast of Los Angeles, Inc. (“Comcast”) seeks a determination that its claim for statutory damages resulting from Debtor Jose Sandoval’s alleged violations of anti-piracy and anti-signal theft laws under California Penal Code § 593d is a nondischargeable debt under § 523.1 Sandoval, a subscriber to Comcast’s basic cable service, was found with two cable converter boxes connected to his television sets, neither provided by Comcast, with hardwire alterations permitting him to decode all of Comcast’s premium and Pay per View cable transmissions.

Following trial, the court finds that Comcast has not provided sufficient evidence to show a violation of the statute. The court further finds that Comcast has not presented sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case that its claim for statutory damages is nondischargeable. Consequently, any debt owing to Comcast by reason of the cable boxes is discharged.

II. RELEVANT FACTS

There are two sets of facts relevant to this case — the facts presented at trial, and background facts about the operations of the cable television industry.

A. Facts of This Case

Comcast distributes television broadcast signals through a cable television system in parts of Los Angeles County, California. Comcast offers several different levels of cable service to its customers, including a “basic” level service or “standard” package and premium and Pay per View services. Sandoval had a subscription for the “basic” level of service from Comcast, Sandoval’s cable television provider.

At trial, the only probative evidence presented by Comcast was a Security Field Observation Report (“field report”) and a Converter Discrepancy Report (“discrepancy report”), which were admitted into [288]*288evidence as records of regularly conducted activity.2

Comcast performed an inspection of the cable wires and equipment at Sandoval’s residence, with his consent, on August 12, 2003. There Comcast found two grey Zenith cable television transmission converter boxes without serial numbers, one connected to a television set in Sandoval’s living room, and the other connected to a television set in the back bedroom. The field report indicates that both converters were “clearly receiving all premium and pay per view channels. They were receiving (SHO-27) Real Men, (iN1-75) Just Married.”

Sandoval voluntarily surrendered the converters to Comcast. Comcast’s later office inspection revealed that both converters had “hardwire modifications.”

B. The Cable Television Industry

Comcast presented no evidence on the nature or the technology of the cable television industry. Some information is available from other recently reported cases.

Cable television signals are transmitted through cable wiring from a cable television system provider’s transmission center to its customer’s television sets. Cable services offered include basic cable programming, premium programming (including movie channels such as HBO) and “Pay per View” programs. Cable television system providers encode or “scramble” the signals of the channels except for those in the basic service package. Basic service is provided at a monthly fee, premium services are provided for additional monthly fees, and Pay per View programming is sold by event. See generally, CSC Holdings, Inc. v. Alberto, 379 F.Supp.2d 490, 491 (S.D.N.Y.2005).

For each customer, a cable television provider installs a converter to unscramble the coded signals if the customer purchases service above the basic level. A service provider also attaches a filter to the cable lines to prevent a decoding device from descrambling any scrambled programs. Customers with unfiltered service levels may obtain “pirate” decoding devices to unscramble the scrambled signals, and thus to obtain higher levels of service without paying the additional fees. See id.

III. ANALYSIS

Comcast argues that Sandoval knowingly and willfully possessed, attached to its satellite television system, and used two unauthorized and illegally modified cable television decoder boxes to view Comcast’s scrambled premium and Pay per View programming without authorization or proper payment. By doing so, Comcast claims that Sandoval committed six separate violations of California Penal Code § 593d and that it is entitled to monetary damages in the amount of $30,000 under § 593d(f)(l).

Comcast further argues that the debt is based on actual fraud, larceny, and conversion, and thus is nondischargeable under §§ 523(a)(2)(A), (4), and (6), respectively. The court held a trial for Comcast to make a prima facie case that the debt is owing and that it is nondischargeable.

A. VALIDITY AND AMOUNT OF THE CLAIM: CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE § 593d

We first examine whether, and to what extent, Comcast has a claim under applicable state law. A “claim” is defined in § 101(5) to include a “right to payment, whether or not such right is reduced to judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, [289]*289contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured, or unsecured.”

Non-bankruptcy law determines the validity of a creditor’s claim. See, e.g., Grogan v. Garner, 498 U.S. 279, 283-84, 111 S.Ct. 654, 112 L.Ed.2d 755 (1991); Cossu v. Jefferson Pilot Sec. Corp. (In re Cossu), 410 F.3d 591, 595 (9th Cir.2005). To the extent that Comcast fails to prove a debt, there is no issue of nondischargeability.

California Penal Code § 593d(a) provides the state law rule governing possession and use of unauthorized and unlawfully modified cable television signal decoders.3 Section 593d(a) states, in relevant part:

[A]ny person who, for the purpose of intercepting, receiving, or using any program or other service carried by a multichannel video or information services provider that the person is not authorized by that provider to receive or use, commits any of the following acts is guilty of a public offense:
(1) Knowingly and willfully makes or maintains an unauthorized connection or connections, whether physically, electrically, electronically, or inductively, to any cable, wire, or other component of a multichannel video or information services provider’s system or to a cable, wire or other media, or receiver that is attached to a multichannel video or information services provider’s system.
(2) Knowingly and willfully purchases, possesses, attaches, causes to be attached, assists others in attaching, or maintains the attachment of any unauthorized device or devices to any cable, wire, or other component of a multichannel video or information services provider’s system or to a cable, wire or other media, or receiver that is attached to a multichannel video or information services provider’s system.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
341 B.R. 282, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 539, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/comcast-of-los-angeles-inc-v-sandoval-in-re-sandoval-cacb-2006.