[opendtv] Broadcasters Warn of Apocalypse in Dish's Ad-Skipping Service
- From: Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: undisclosed-recipient:;
- Date: Tue, 29 May 2012 02:22:41 -0400
Broadcasters Warn of Apocalypse in Dish's Ad-Skipping Service
By David Kravets
May 25, 2012
Broadcasters are claiming in federal lawsuits Thursday that Dish
Network's DVR service, which allows the automatic skipping of
commercials, breaches copyright law and retransmission agreements.
The suits by Fox, CBS and NBC are the broadcasters' latest legal
salvos against technological innovations, as those advances bring
into question whether broadcasters' longstanding business model can
survive the digital age.
The Dish Network litigation concerns the March introduction of what
the satellite company calls PrimeTime Anytime, which allows customers
to record and store about a week's worth of prime-time broadcast
television. And two weeks ago, the Colorado company enabled playback
of those archives without users seeing commercials.
The networks are labeling it a "bootleg" service that produces
unauthorized copies of their shows and say it breaches signed
licensing deals. And the consequences are dire, they warn. If the
courts don't block the service, it "will ultimately destroy the
advertising-supported ecosystem that provides consumers with the
choice to enjoy free over-the-air, varied, high-quality primetime
broadcast programming," the broadcasters told the court.
In the early 1980s, the Supreme Court ruled Americans have the fair
use right to time-shift lawfully obtained content for later viewing.
But that was using primitive technology like the VCR and Betamax,
with limited recording capabilities. The Dish service records a day's
prime time lineup from ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and stores up to 100
hours of those shows for up to eight days - all without the
broadcasters' consent.
...
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/05/ad-skipping-lawsuit/
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