MUMBAI: A success story in the war against the cable pirate. Only it is far removed from Indian shores.

The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa), representing 120 member companies has confirmed that civil actions in Hong Kong against the firms for allegedly importing and trading in unlicensed satellite TV signal decoding equipment have been settled.

An out-of court settlement was reached yesterday in the ongoing legal tussle between plaintiffs Star, CNN, Turner Entertainment Networks Asia, ESPN Star Sports, Discovery Asia and NGC Network Asia and defendants Alpha Communications Technology Ltd and Andy Yeung Chun Wah.

Both defendants admitted to the charges and paid an undisclosed sum in damages, a Casbaa release says.

Both firms have been restrained by a court injunction from importing into Hong Kong and selling any "smart cards" or decoders that are obtained from distributors in territories outside of Hong Kong. They also had to surrender all the smart cards and pay-TV decoders in their possession. The retail supplier in Thailand who sold the cards has also been identified, the release says.