People v. Babylon

Opinion

KAUS, J.

Alarmed by the increasing “piracy” of over-the-air subscription television transmissions and the threat it poses to a burgeoning new industry, the Legislature, in 1980, enacted a protective measure, codified as Penal Code section 593e. As originally enacted, section 593e provided in pertinent part that “[e]very person who for profit knowingly and willfully manufactures, distributes, or sells any device . . . with the purpose or intention of facilitating interception or decoding of any over-the-air transmission by a subscription television service made pursuant to authority…