Hollywood sues Cablevision over DVR

Hollywood sues Cablevision over DVR
Four major Hollywood studios including the likes of Universal and Disney are suing the fifth largest cable television provider in the U.S., Cablevision. The suit is over their controversial network digital video recorder (DVR). This network DVR would enable users to store digital copies of their favorite television broadcasts over the internet in a centrally located server farm. This technology is in contrast to existing systems such as Tivo, who's solution allows users to save programs on hard drives that are located inside the device in their homes.

Television subscribers have long since been allowed to store their favorite programs for private viewing, but Cablevision's service has raised objections from the production studios in that now a third party organization will have control over licensed material they have not paid for.



"Cablevision is actually copying, storing and retransmitting it," said Kori Bernard, a spokeswoman for studio industry group the Motion Picture Association of America. "A commercial entity can't establish a for-profit, on-demand service without authorization from copyright owners whose content is used on that service," she said.

Cablevision remains confident that their service, although located on a server in their own facility, allows subscribers to access material in their own digital space that they themselves have copied. Cablevision executives have stated that "This lawsuit is without merit, reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of Cablevision's remote-storage DVR and ignores the enormous benefit and well-established right of viewers to time-shift television programming."

Source:
Reuters UK


Written by: Dave Horvath @ 25 May 2006 6:01
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  • 20 comments
  • hot_ice

    I believe that Cablevision is absolutely right stating that their lawsuit is actually without merit. I can't begin to fathom as to why they would even waste their time to file lawsuits on that basis.

    Too many lawsuits issued for copyright protection, it wastes the legal systems time. It should stop now.

    25.5.2006 06:34 #1

  • BIGTOXY69

    That's because the entertainment bussiness is run /by for & owned by lawyers & not actors , performers and artist ! That's also why the RIAA , Movie studios & Record labels get rich and the artist of whatever format Get screwed ! It happened in the 50's & 60's & it's still happening !

    25.5.2006 06:42 #2

  • savoiR

    like i said earlier, all these lawsuits really accomplish is putting more money in to large corporate law office pockets becuase, most of them are sueing over people's rights already granted to them or large companies are trying to do what they did a long time ago when VCRs came out and people could record things

    25.5.2006 07:04 #3

  • mystic

    this is the same type equipment I bought from direc tv to store movies or shows on the system then out put it to a vcr and then burn it to dvd so I can make my own season of what ever I want .. once its a dvd I supose one could post it to the net but most peopleonly want it for their own collection. see what I watch and what others watch are probly diffrent the old shows like "in search of" arent ever going to dvd so who cares but hey if you ppv a new release yeah hollywood could throw a fit over burning it to dvds and posting it to the web... but its like closing the door after the horse has left the building ... its to late the technology is in the hands of mainstream america and they should have seen it coming... maybe they should hire techs to proof new equipment coming on the market befor its to late....

    25.5.2006 07:35 #4

  • GrayArea

    When is hollywood just going to cut to the chase and file a lawsuit against "everybody in the world who is not us" claiming that "you all just plain owe us money"?

    25.5.2006 08:35 #5

  • hot_ice

    These "corporate lawyers" or if you prefer, "predators", have filed lawsuits to all manners of people, regardless of their age, whether they are living or dead, or even valid or frivolous.

    Lawyers coupled with corporations are the epidemy of greed and human disregard. Corporations should not be considered "entities" anymore, and lawyers should have limitations as well within the system...

    In any event, there is a joke here that applies:

    -What does a lawyer and a semen have in common?

    Answer: There is 1 in 300 million chance of it becoming human.

    A classic...

    25.5.2006 12:34 #6

  • flyingv

    hot_ice:

    Q:What do you call 500 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?

    A:A good start!!! LOL!!!

    What a crock!!! Whats next...?

    25.5.2006 14:43 #7

  • hot_ice

    Lol also another classic!! flyingv

    26.5.2006 10:19 #8

  • max777

    Strange use of bandwidth considering how crappy digital cable is.

    26.5.2006 14:46 #9

  • hans471

    Where does this end? I get the latest movies and many CD's from my local library. (Free of course, just like the books I check out.) DVD's are the hottest items there according to the library staff. When will the RIAA and the movie industry sue to shut down our libraries? Where does it end?

    Is all about run-away greed. I am a poor school teacher. Like I really feel sorry for some poor actor who only gets $20 million per movie and the execs who make more in a week than I make in 30 years. They want it ALL. No matter how much they get they want more. And it all comes out of the pockets of folks who make less in a year than these guys make in a few days.

    No tears here for these guys.

    26.5.2006 18:33 #10

  • hot_ice

    That's the problem, it just doesn't end, too many people are stuck in their own bubble they call "life" to protest for what is right until it becomes a mass problem and directly affects them.

    This is Latane's theory of transfer of responsibility at work here...

    26.5.2006 22:05 #11

  • ChiefBrdy

    I've decided to beat em to the punch and sue myself.

    27.5.2006 07:02 #12

  • Ramli

    I agree with the people that think that sueing Cablevision is just a way to get the Lawyers pockets full again.Here is one thing that I don't understand. When I buy a new car the car Manufacture cant tell me how to drive it. I drive it anyway I want after I buy it. I buy a new suit. After I pay for the suit I can burn it if I want .. I paid for it. The Movie and music people want their cake and eat it both. I think after I buy a DvD moveie or song it is mins to do what I want. Maybe some one of you readers a can explain that to me... Happy Trails

    28.5.2006 03:40 #13

  • ChiefBrdy

    "When I buy a new car the car Manufacture cant tell me how to drive it. I drive it anyway I want after I buy it. I buy a new suit. After I pay for the suit I can burn it if I want .. I paid for it."

    The difference is, you can't copy a car or a new suit.

    "Is that 3 thousand dollar bounty on the shark in cash or check?"

    "We can do it the easy way...Or we can do it the REAL easy way."

    28.5.2006 04:01 #14

  • ZippyDSM

    this is like sueing you for makeing a tape of a TV sow this is BS at its fineiest...

    28.5.2006 04:56 #15

  • hans471

    No, you can not make a copy of your car or your suit. But, I can sell my car to someone else or I can give my suit away if I want. I can loan you my car or my suit, or do whatever I want to with them.

    But what I am very concerned about is the library issue. How long before Hollywood figures out that many people are sharing that DVD rather than buying their own copy. Sure, we have shared books for thousands of years, but not things are different, its DVD's and CD's we are talking about. Oh, what its really all about is how can Hollywood MAKE MORE MONEY!

    I still say, its all about GREED. The lawyers will keep going after people until someone stops them once and for all. I stopped buying music CD's as they were just too expensive and I no longer enjoyed lining the pockets of those people. I live a decend but humble life. I see these folks making muliple millions off Mr. and Ms. Average. I am tired of it.

    28.5.2006 05:29 #16

  • ZippyDSM

    hans471
    pretty much this world is bulit on greed and the coprate way 0_o

    28.5.2006 05:31 #17

  • ChiefBrdy

    "No, you can not make a copy of your car or your suit. But, I can sell my car to someone else or I can give my suit away if I want. I can loan you my car or my suit, or do whatever I want to with them."

    And if I bought a retail CD, I could sell it or give it away as well.

    In other words, you can't compare recorded media to tangible goods.

    29.5.2006 04:02 #18

  • ChiefBrdy

    "pretty much this world is bulit on greed and the coprate way"

    There's no 'pretty much' about it. The driving force of most of humanity is the aquisition of wealth compounded by greed.

    Until that changes, man will never mature beyond our current state. Which has basically remained constant for thousands of years.

    History has taught us little. We continue to repeat the same mistakes and engage in the same abhorent behaviour as has every generation before us.

    29.5.2006 04:11 #19

  • ZippyDSM

    ChiefBrdy
    Pretty much,"Let us contenuie"
    LOL

    29.5.2006 06:30 #20

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