Satellite company sues OJ for $20,000

MIAMI, March 9 (UPI) -- The DirecTV Inc. has filed suit in federal court charging O.J. Simpson used illegal devices at his Florida home to pirate its broadcast signals.

The company is demanding Simpson pay $20,000 for the use of the equipment and attorneys' fees, the Miami Herald reported Tuesday.

Federal agents removed satellite television equipment from Simpson's Kendall, Fla., house during a search Dec. 4, 2001, The Herald reported.

DirecTV alleged in the federal lawsuit filed in Miami the devices found were "bootloaders" used to pirate its signal.

At the time of the search, the devices were being used for the unauthorized decryption of DirecTV signals, the lawsuit said.

Simpson attorney Yale Galanter denied the allegations.

"O.J. Simpson has never owned any pirating equipment, pirating cards, illegal cards," he said. "He's been a loyal, paying customer of DirecTV for years."