Costa Rica News – For many of us walking the streets of San Jose and even sitting in restaurants in Costa Rica we have noticed the pirated movies being sold on the streets. You can also buy stolen cell phones and other electronics if you know where to go and who to talk to in San Jose. It is a part of life here and can actually reduce your costs if you do not currently stream movies online or if you need a replacement for your lost cell phone.
Sometimes this comes back and bites people in the butt. Take a peek at what used to be Red Lobster in Jaco beach. Corporate caught wind of the fact a restaurant had set up shop in Costa Rica using its brand and logo and quickly made sure that they changed their name. The ordeal cost the owner re-branding to the now popular “Langostas” but it did not effect too many people other than those directly working with that business.
However, this latest oopsy, has had effects on many TV viewers in Costa Rica.
As of October first, many cable providers in Costa Rica stopped NBC programming after a cease-and-desist order from the network. The companies affected made announcements on September 30th that they would no longer transmit NBC.
TV viewers throughout the country were channel surfing and read the announcement about the signal for the U.S.-based network being terminated. Everyone was taken back and confused, especially because no explanation was provided until now.
It seems the problem stems from the fact that the NBC signal that we have been enjoying for years was pirated, according to NBC Universal. It is said to have originated in Miami and been picked up by local companies and used without permission.
NBC Universal wants to continue providing entertainment in Latin America and says that it has agreements with many providers. They are only asking that the unauthorized re-transmissions be stopped. Telemundo and Universal are NBC stations that are legally authorized and will remain available.
A CableTica representative says they paid a monthly fee to a Canadian company for the signal. The company apparently did not secure the rights appropriately with NBC as CableTica thought it did. A spokeswoman from Claro confirmed the company thought they had a legal broadcast, as well. Tigo, CableVision, and Telecable refused to comment.
Let’s be honest with ourselves, this place looked for the least expensive way to broadcast this station to the not so large gringo population in Costa Rica. They did not do much research on the company broadcasting the signal and it ended up being a pirated broadcast. Oh well, life goes on.
This does have an effect on people wanting to catch the latest NBC shows from the USA and some sporting events, but honestly, it does not really matter. Instead of staying in and watching TV, have a nice evening enjoying a drink at the beach or take in the night sky over Lake Arenal.
