Hollywood Sues CableVision over Proposed Network PVR

[Dajad]

http://www.daledietrich.com/imedia/May06.htm#25May06b

Hollywood studios and TV networks are asking a U.S. District Court in New York to stop a network-based video recording service that Cablevision Systems Corp. planned to start offering next month alleging the service violates their copyrights.

...Dale

[Dan203]

Saw that coming from a mile away! There was a website a few years ago that tried to allow this type of service. (i.e. they store program remotely, but only allow users to watch programs they explicitly asked to be recorded) They got sued, lost and were shut down.

Dan

[Arcady]

The topic title is misleading: why would the city of Hollywood sue a cable company?

[PhillyGuy]

The topic title is misleading: why would the city of Hollywood sue a cable company?

Hollywood as an entity, not the city of Hollywood. I think it's pretty clear to most people what he meant.

[MikeMar]

Hollywood as an entity, not the city of Hollywood. I think it's pretty clear to most people what he meant.

naw i think it's the town. Next they will sue San Fran or Oakland or something :D

[jmoak]

Cablevision sued over planned digital service (http://yahoo.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com: 20060525:MTFH47275_2006-05-25_02-02-13_N24372425&symbol=CVC.N&rpc=44)
LOS ANGELES, May 24 (Reuters) - Four Hollywood studios and the three major television networks filed a copyright suit on Wednesday seeking to prevent Cablevision Systems Corp. from launching an "on-demand" service that aims to replace the living room digital video recorder.Is that better?;)

[Stormspace]

I recieved this news with mixed feelings. First I was angered/irritated that the MPAA was once again without clue, but then I remembered my first reaction to the cable PVR news. Basically this is good for all users in a backhanded kind of way.

Pros on Cable PVR's
No need to purchase equipment.
Grandma Easy <--The same was said for AOL, but look at it now.

Con's
This type of PVR relies on a good cable signal and doesn't work if the cable lines are down, you haven't paid your bill, or your electricity is off.

Tivo works just fine in the first two instances and with a good ups works fine in the last instance for a short while.
You have no control over maintenance schedules and equipment failure.

The Tivo does not rely on the cable service maintenance schedules or programming glitches since the TiVo interface is quite stable and if you need to reboot the device you can do it when you want to, not in the middle of a recording which might happen in the cable co's case.
Also there's a matter of accountability. You are accountable for your TiVo's programming schedule and if you miss a program because you messed up, then it's on you. You can call TiVo support and get geniune help from someone if it's an equipment or software issue. With the CC the person you are calling is without clue and at most is just passing your request along. You can also fix your device as quickly as you want and not rely on the CC to fix it for you. If your TiVo dies over the weekend, you hop on down to Best Buy and reequip.
Upgrades
A Tivo can be upgraded and the cost to do this is fixed to a one time expenditure. If the CC offers additional space it'll be at a premium, and it'll be monthly. AND if the MPAA has it's way you'll be paying for the right to record it.

[Dajad]

You also have no control over how long a recorded show is available.

If HOLLYWOOD ;) wins this one, this would be good news for TiVo - less competition. But, ultimately, the more options available to consumers the better.

This will be interesting.

...Dale

[tenthplanet]

The real problem with what Cablevision is proposing is technical. The distribution set-up is similar to Video On Demand. Ever had problems accessing VOD? Now imagine you can't get access to something you had recorded. Ah yes; the sound of gnashing teeth.....

[classicsat]

The topic title is misleading: why would the city of Hollywood sue a cable company?
Same with Washington and Detroit.

It is a bit annoying, but it is convention to use the name of a city in place of the entity within that city you are particularly addressing, hoping that the communication as a whole will fill in that blank.

[dt_dc]

Cartoon Network and CNN have also filed suit:
Steve Donohue 5/30/2006 (Multichannel News)

Cartoon, CNN Sue Cablevision

Cartoon Network and CNN sued Cablevision Systems Corp. in an attempt to block the company from pursuing plans to roll out a network-based digital-video-recorder service.
(...)

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6339206.html?display=Breaking+NewsInteresting in that Time Warner owns Cartoon Network and CNN ... and of course they also own Time Warner cable ... which has also taked about nDVRs ...

[drew2k]

You would think Hollywood would be supporting this a little more.

After all, wouldn't the content be more "protected" and harder to hack by residing on a networked DVR safe in the Cable Co's computer room? I would think Hollywood would be pleased that there wouldn't be hard drives full of "their" content just sitting around in everyone's living rooms, enticing some ne'er-do-well to think about what's on that hard drive and how it could be . . . well, you know. What ne'er-do-wells do. ;)

[jfh3]

You would think Hollywood would be supporting this a little more.

After all, wouldn't the content be more "protected" and harder to hack by residing on a networked DVR safe in the Cable Co's computer room? I would think Hollywood would be pleased that there wouldn't be hard drives full of "their" content just sitting around in everyone's living rooms, enticing some ne'er-do-well to think about what's on that hard drive and how it could be . . . well, you know. What ne'er-do-wells do. ;)

You have to remember - these are the same forward-thinking people that thought VHS recorders and DVDs were going to kill off their business ... :)

[HDTiVo]

They're just trying to get a cut of whatever the cable company charges.

They'll get it anyway when contracts are renewed.

[slocko]

Why is cablevison's plan so vastly different than Direct's plan to have a central server inside your house?

Only difference I see is that cablevision's server is offsite versus Direct's which is inside your house.

If cablevision loses, it opens the door for them to go against the other model also.

[Jabberer]

You'd think the networks would embrace the idea of getting more people to watch thier shows. Typical proto-human thinking: "Ug...different...kill different..."

[HiDefGator]

Network's have been known to change their minds about what they will agree to once they see the dollars. I suspect this will fall into the same category. If they get paid enough they will agree to anything. Lawsuits are just their way of negotiating a higher cut for themselves.

[jmoak]

In response to lawsuits, "Cablevision calls on studios to embrace network DVR". (http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20060602:M TFH22944_2006-06-02_21-12-45_N02389607&type=comktNews&rpc=44)