NEW YORK (AP) — An Illinois judge on Monday ordered satellite-TV company Dish to pay $280 million for calling people who said they didn't want to be bothered by telemarketers.
The court found that Dish "caused millions and millions of violations of the Do Not Call Laws." Telemarketers are barred from calling people who have joined federal or state do-not-call registries or who've asked companies to leave them alone.
The Justice Department said the $280 million penalty, which will go to the U.S., California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio, was the biggest ever penalty for telemarketing violations.
Dish Network Corp. says it will appeal the ruling. It says the penalties are unfairly large and it's being held responsible for telemarketing done by contractors, who in some cases hid what they were doing from Dish.