A director of one of the two cable companies hoping to compete in Bermuda was involved in a legal battle in Canada two years ago after his company was accused of pirating American television signals.

William Craig, of World on Wireless (WOW!) was forced to shut down his Internet cable service, iCrave, because American broadcasters accused the company of violating copyright laws.

Last Thursday, Mr. Craig and his partners presented their application to the Telecommunications Commission in a bid to introduce digital cable service to Bermuda.

In late 1999, iCrave, streamed 16 over-the-air channels via the Internet.

The intent of the service was to provide local (Canadian) coverage to Canadians only, but on February 8, 2000, a US District judge in Pittsburg ordered the company stop its unauthorised transmission of U.S. signals after it was discovered that iCrave was airing American stations in its broadcasts.

Within two months, the Internet cable provider had been shut down.

Mr. Craig spoke to The Royal Gazette on Friday night from his Toronto home.

While he admitted he was unsure whether the Commission knew of his legal wrangle, Mr Craig said: “It's no secret - it's very public.”

“We didn't violate any Canadian copyrights laws, “ he said. “We picked up 16 Canadian and US stations just like a cable TV does. We then put the signals on Internet. Among other Canadian requirements, as long as you don't edit them (the signals) or carry them live, you are not breaking Canadian law.”

iCrave did not charge any fees for their service, but he said the problems began when American Internet users starting using bogus Canadian addresses to gain access to the site.

To ensure iCrave complied with Canadian laws, its site was designed to reject any addresses that were outside of Canada.