12.1-23.1 Theft of Cable Television
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<![CDATA[CHAPTER 12.1-23.1THEFT OF CABLE TELEVISION12.1-23.1-01. Theft of cable television services - Penalty. A person is guilty of aclass B misdemeanor if the person:1.Knowingly obtains or attempts to obtain cable television service from another by any<br>means, artifice, trick, deception, or device without the payment to the cable<br>television operator of all lawful compensation for each type of service obtained;2.Knowingly assists or instructs any other person in obtaining or attempting to obtain<br>any cable television service without the payment to the cable television operator of<br>all lawful compensation for each type of service obtained or attempted to be<br>obtained;3.Knowingly tampers, diverts from, or connects to by any means, whether mechanical,<br>electrical, acoustical or other means, any cables, wires, or other devices used for the<br>distribution of cable television without authority from the cable television operator; or4.Knowingly manufactures, imports into this state, distributes, sells, offers for sale or<br>rental, possesses for sale, or advertises for sale, any device, plan or kit for a device,<br>or printed circuit, designed to unlock, decode, descramble, or otherwise make<br>intelligible any locked, encoded, scrambled, or other nonstandard signal carried by<br>the cable television system, thereby facilitating the doing of any acts specified in<br>subsections 1, 2, and 3.12.1-23.1-02. Civil penalties for theft of cable television services.1.Any person who violates subsection 1, 2, or 3 of section 12.1-23.1-01 is liable to the<br>franchised or otherwise duly licensed cable television system for the greater of one<br>thousand dollars or three times the amount of actual damages, if any, sustained by<br>the system, plus reasonable attorney fees.2.Any person who violates subsection 4 of section 12.1-23.1-01 is liable to the<br>franchised or otherwise duly licensed cable television system for the greater of ten<br>thousand dollars or three times the amount of actual damages, if any, sustained by<br>the plaintiff, plus reasonable attorney fees. A second or subsequent conviction is<br>punishable by the greater of twenty thousand dollars or three times the amount of<br>actual damages, if any, plus reasonable attorney fees.12.1-23.1-03.Theft of cable television services - Action - Injunction - Propertyforfeiture.1.Any franchised or otherwise duly licensed cable television system may bring an<br>action to enjoin and restrain violation of section 12.1-23.1-01 or an action for<br>conversion, or both, and may in the same action seek damages as provided for in<br>section 12.1-23.1-02.2.Any communications paraphernalia prohibited under section 12.1-23.1-01 may be<br>seized and, upon conviction, is forfeited to the jurisdiction where the arrest was<br>made. The paraphernalia may be, pursuant to court order, sold or destroyed.3.It is not a necessary prerequisite to an action pursuant to section 12.1-23.1-02 that<br>the plaintiff has suffered, or is threatened with, actual damages.12.1-23.1-04. Amateur radio communications - Exemption. This chapter shall not beconstrued to prevent the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale, offer for sale or rental,<br>possession for sale, or advertisement for sale, any device, plan or kit for a device, or printedPage No. 1circuit, used by federally-licensed amateur radio (ham) operators for amateur radio<br>communications as permitted under 47 CFR 91.7 et seq.Page No. 2Document Outlinechapter 12.1-23.1 theft of cable television]]>