Girard bar is accused of illegal satellite access

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

The bar owners say they did nothing wrong.

YOUNGSTOWN — Representatives of a Pennsylvania business are claiming that a Girard bar stole an encrypted satellite signal, and they are asking a court for financial compensation.

Joe Hand Promotions, based in Feasterville, Pa., filed suit in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio against Michael J. Easterling, an officer of State Street Bar and Grill in Girard.

The civil suit, filed Wednesday, asks the court to award $270,000 in damages to the company. Judge Peter C. Economus has been assigned to the case.

According to the suit, Joe Hand Promotions contracted to broadcast Ultimate Fighting Championship No. 81 on Feb. 2 via closed circuit television and satellite from a venue in Las Vegas. Public entities, such as bars, were then expected to purchase rights to air the broadcast.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is a professional mixed martial arts organization offering the premier series of MMA sports events. The organization started in 1993.

The suit claims that the State Street bar somehow illegally gained access to the fight transmission and aired it, reaping financial gain from its use.

In a second count, the suit mentions the means used to intercept the encrypted signal. A third count mentions the company’s belief that Easterling knew the broadcast was not to be aired.

Chuck Baker, co-owner of the bar, said he and Easterling bought the establishment using money from a Delphi Packard buyout and have made an effort to maintain a clean reputation there. Stolen satellite signals, he said, are not part of that clean image nor something they are party to doing.

Baker said he and his partner ordered satellite service from a provider shortly after acquiring the bar. He said everything was fine until the complaint about a stolen broadcast — something, he said, neither owner had anything to do with.

“We had been getting bills and we would pay those bills without any problems, then all of a sudden we get notification of this potential lawsuit and we are like, ‘what?’ We don’t even know what this is all about,” he said.

Baker said he has since unsubscribed from the service, but is stunned that it has led to such problems.

“We’ve done our best to just do something positive in The Valley,” he said. “To the best of my knowledge, we didn’t do anything wrong.”

jgoodwin@vindy.com