After the U.S. Department of State placed Al-Manar on the Terrorist Exclusion List on 17 December 2004, transmissions to North America via Intelsat's satellites were blocked. Javed Iqbal, a resident of New York City is the first person to charged under this law. Iqbal, 45, a Pakistani who had been living in the U.S. for more than 25 years, was charged by federal prosecutors with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization by broadcasting Al Manar to U.S. customers, in exchange for thousands of dollars payment. In a 2008 plea bargain, he agreed to serve a prison term of up to years. Saleh Elahwal, who also operates HDTV, was also charged and went on trial 5 January 2009. Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, says it's constitutional for the government to outlaw businesses with direct operational ties to terrorist organizations, and media outlets that directly incite and direct violent action, but in this case, the government is trying to stop the spread of ideas. Mark Dubowitz, who founded the Coalition Against Terrorist Media to in part stop Al-Manar, said Al-Manar was shouting fire in a crowded theater, although Lieberman disagreed with that metaphor.