Washington statute
RCW 9A.56.220 — Theft of subscription television services
Current through 2026 Regular Session
Part of Chapter 9A.56: Theft And Robbery, Revised Code of Washington.
Criminal charges under this statute
Full text of RCW 9A.56.220
Statutory text current through the 2026 Regular Session. This publication reproduces the official text of the Revised Code of Washington from the Code Reviser's published files; it is not the official statutes of the State of Washington.
(1) A person is guilty of theft of subscription television services if, with intent to avoid payment of the lawful charge of a subscription television service, he or she:
(a) Obtains or attempts to obtain subscription television service from a subscription television service company by trick, artifice, deception, use of a device or decoder, or other fraudulent means without authority from the company providing the service;
(b) Assists or instructs a person in obtaining or attempting to obtain subscription television service without authority of the company providing the service;
(c) Makes or maintains a connection or connections, whether physical, electrical, mechanical, acoustical, or by other means, with cables, wires, components, or other devices used for the distribution of subscription television services without authority from the company providing the services;
(d) Makes or maintains a modification or alteration to a device installed with the authorization of a subscription television service company for the purpose of interception or receiving a program or other service carried by the company that the person is not authorized by the company to receive; or
(e) Possesses without authority a device designed in whole or in part to receive subscription television services offered for sale by the subscription television service company, regardless of whether the program or services are encoded, filtered, scrambled, or otherwise made unintelligible, or to perform or facilitate the performance of any other acts set out in (a) through (d) of this subsection for the reception of subscription television services without authority.
(2) Theft of subscription television services is a gross misdemeanor.
Official sources
Legal terms used in this section
Questions this section answers
Is theft of subscription television services a felony or a misdemeanor in Washington?
Theft of subscription television services is a Gross Misdemeanor in Washington under RCW 9A.56.220.
Which Washington statute covers theft of subscription television services?
Theft of subscription television services is governed by RCW 9A.56.220 (Theft of subscription television services).
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.