Police seize and destroy 5,000 fake DStv remotes

3 years ago 1

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MultiChoice has announced that South African police seized and saw to the destruction of 5,000 counterfeit remote controls that infringed on the company’s DStv logo trademark.

The company said the remotes undermined its intellectual property rights and posed a significant threat to its profitability and reputation.

It said the counterfeit goods were rightfully confiscated by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and customs authorities before the Electronic Cemetery disposed of them in an environmentally-friendly way.

“MultiChoice takes this matter very seriously and is committed to protecting its brand and trademarks from being exploited by pirates,” said MultiChoice corporate affairs head Tumi Masekela.

“We have been working closely with Adams & Adams to address this issue, and we are also grateful for the support of the SAPS and Customs authorities.”

MultiChoice said the implications of piracy are far-reaching and economically devastating.

For this reason, it supports Partners Against Piracy, a Pan-African campaign to fight content piracy.

In November 2022, MultiChoice and subsidiary Irdeto announced that a Cape Town man received a seven-year jail sentence for selling modified Android TV boxes that could stream unlicensed content through unofficial channels.

This included DStv content.

“We believe that it is crucial to raise public awareness about the importance of combating counterfeit goods’ illegal importation into South Africa,” said Masekela.

“Our efforts in this regard are part of a broader campaign aimed at protecting consumers and businesses from the dangers of counterfeiting.”

Masekela urged other businesses to take similar measures to protect their intellectual property rights and ensure counterfeit goods are not sold in South Africa.

“We would also like to encourage the public to be vigilant when purchasing goods and report any suspected counterfeit products to the authorities,” Masekela said.