A3-Wednesday, May 14, 1980 - North Shore News Precedent setting W. Van case By CHRIS LLOYD Cable West T.V., the North Shore’s supplier of cable television, is almost certain to ask the police to start clamping down on stores which sell cable splitters, following a precedent setting court case in West Van- couver last week. And anyone using one of the splitters in their homes to operate two cable appliances while only paying a bill for one, and who ignores a warning by the cable company to remove the splitter is also likely to be prosecuted. The Criminal Code states it is an offence to use cable wire to obtain telecom- Munication services. by “theft”. Yet although the cable companies have been itching for years to crack down on all the do-it-yourself cable splitters, Cable West says that until now nobody has actually put the law to the test. But on Fnday. Judge Nancy Mormson determined a cable splitter was a prohibited device, when she gave judgement in a case in West Vancouver Provincial Court. And although he was spared from a_ criminal conviction, West Van resident Walter Robinson, of 6437 Douglas, was found guilty of possessing a prohibited device and was placed on probation as well as being conditionally discharged. In addition to his costs of retaining a lawyer for his defence, Robinson was ordered to pay the cable company $193 restitugon Court heard that Robinson moved into the rented duplex the = splhitter was already installed on the outside of the house, feeding cable to both Robison was said to when suites have HAPPY 40th| assumed that the suite rent included the use of cable. DOG'S FAULT The trouble began when a dog chewed the cable and the other tenant couldn't get cable TY any more and called the cable company. ‘When the repair man called he didn’t find the fault in the cable but what he did find was the cable splitter and he removed it. Robinson and his neighbor arrived home that evening, puzzled because their TVs still didn’t receive cable. Together they tracked down the spot where the dog had chewed the cable and they carried out a makeshift repair, with Robinson's neighbor saying he'd call the cable company the following day and get it repaired properly. Meanwhile, Robinson also found the splitter had been removed and decided that probably also had something to do with the problem and installed another. The cable man returned the foHowing day and when he was confronted by the sight of another = splitter decided it was too much to ignore twice. Judge Morrison declared that even if Robinson had not initially reahzed use of the spLitter was prohibited he should have checked with the cable company once it had been removed. She found him not guilty of theft of cable time during the period he had been connected up for cable. But she declared that he had been in possession of a prohibited devise, although a police witness acknowledged under cross expires, May25 1980 Before you buy another examination that such splitters were readily available in department stores on the North Shore. Vice-president in charge of finance at Cable West TV, David Smith, sees the case as a victory for cable com- panies and a chance for them to at last achieve control over such splitters. INFERIOR He maintains his interest is in ensuring customers get the best cable reception and that the self installed ones, which sell at about $5 in hardware stores,are inferior to the ones that can be bought from the cable company, installed by them for $15 and rented for an additional $2 per month. Smith says firms marketing the commercially available splittlers are careful to describe them as antenna splitters rather than eable splitters but he sees Judge Mormnson’s declaration that they are prohibited devices as a way to over- come the loophole. Next step by Cable West 1s likely to be to ask the police to inform stores selling the splitters that they are prohibited devices. Whereas the company won't be going on a witch hunt to find people using prohibited splitters in their homes, Smith says that in cases where a_— cable technician finds one he will remove it. And if the customer is later found to have installed another he will be prosecuted. 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