Four states and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) are seeking up to $24 billion in fines from Dish Network after a judge ruled that the company and its contractors made more than 55 million illegal telemarketing calls using recorded messages and phoning people on do-not-call lists. The trial to decide whether Dish was aware that it was breaking the law and whether the company is responsible for calls made by its subcontractors began yesterday.

A spokesperson for Dish, which is based outside of Denver, Colorado, noted in an e-mail to Ars that "Most of the Dish calls complained about took place almost ten years ago and Dish has continued to improve its already compliant procedures.” The spokesperson added that in 2008, the satellite TV and Internet provider hired Possible Now, a company that specializes in marketing and regulatory compliance, to make sure that Dish’s marketing practices were legal. According to Dish, Possible Now gave the company a passing grade on compliance with federal regulatory rules.

However, the DOJ as well as Ohio, Illinois, California, and North Carolina say that Dish disregarded federal laws on call etiquette. US lawyers are asking for $900 million in civil penalties, and the four states are asking for $23.5 billion in fines, according to the Denver Post. "Laws against phoning people on do-not-call lists and using recorded messages allow penalties of up to $16,000 per violation,” the Post added.

Dish Network's market capitalization as of Wednesday afternoon was $22.53 billion.

In a November filing (PDF), Dish compared the fines regulators have requested to those recently imposed on a company hired by a third party vendor of Dish services. That company was found to have made illegal robocalls on behalf of the third-party vendor, but it was fined just $75,000. Comparing this company's slap on the wrist to the billions sought by federal and state regulators, Dish called the prosecution's penalty request "shocking."

Dish has already settled with 46 other states regarding the telemarketing calls. It paid a total of just $5.99 million in 2009 to those 46 states for violations of the do-not-call registry.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission have spent the last decade cracking down on robocalls and telemarketers. In 2010, the national do-not-call registry had more than 200 million numbers on it (but, as Ars reported at the time, companies often ignored it). In 2013 the FCC required that telemarketers receive express written consent before being able to call or text mobile phone numbers, and just last year the commission started publishing a weekly spreadsheet of numbers that received an informal complaint, so third-party robocall blockers could keep their tools current.

Correction: Ars originally wrote that the vendor who was hit with a $75,000 fine for making illegal robocalls was hired by Dish. In fact, they were hired by a third-party vendor of Dish services.