US legal row over Dish Network's ad-skipping TV box

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mark1234

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US legal row over Dish Network's ad-skipping TV box

#1

Post by mark1234 » Fri May 25, 2012 3:59 pm

Get ready for ever more in-your-face sponsorship and product placement as traditional ad revenue inevitably declines.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18206803
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#2

Post by adam1991 » Fri May 25, 2012 6:11 pm

yeah, I saw that story the other day.

As long as it's under the radar, everything's cool. The moment another big business tries to make money off the concept...bam!

Any shred of an idea that Ceton had to support or even allow ShowAnalyzer or Comskip on their Q, just evaporated into thin air.

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#3

Post by barnabas1969 » Fri May 25, 2012 11:12 pm

The article says, "The lawsuits of the TV networks, which were filed individually, allege that the ad hopping is illegal because it involves the gadget making an unauthorised version of a copyrighted TV show." That sounds a lot like what MCE Buddy does. So, does this mean that if the software skips the commercial in real-time (ala ShowAnalyzer and CommSkip), that it is not illegal?

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#4

Post by makryger » Sat May 26, 2012 1:55 am

I'd say that live commercial skipping- where it just marks the timing of the commercials, and jumps as needed, would be legal by that definition. But knowing cable companies, I'm sure they'd find a whole different reason to sue.
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#5

Post by richard1980 » Sat May 26, 2012 2:02 am

The networks are implying that the Hopper records something, then generates a new copy of the recording without the commercials in it. If this is how the device functions, then they have grounds for a lawsuit. However, it is my understanding that only one recording is made and the auto-hop feature simply skips over the commercials without creating a 2nd copy of the program. I fail to see how that violates any law. There is no law that says "users must watch commercials".

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#6

Post by bmblank » Sat May 26, 2012 2:34 am

ReplayTV had the same issues. The 5040 if I recall had commercial skip but later series did not. 5040 series replays with a lifetime subscription were a prime find after that.
What it'll come down to is they won't (legally) be able to make a commercial product that natively skips commercials, but there will be a grassroots movement that will hack their devices and share how they did it. Eventually there will be programs that will do the hack in one step and it will be given away in exchange for donations to the beer find.
I'm not dissing how it works, I'm just saying nothing is going to stop what people want, and one of the things people want is an uninterrupted media experience. (me included, thanks Erik at comskip. :-D)

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#7

Post by barnabas1969 » Sat May 26, 2012 2:52 am

Legal or not, when a huge corporation with very deep pockets sues you, the decision often comes down to how long you can afford to fight it in court.

Remember... corporations are now people thanks to Citizens United (big misnomer), and money = speech. He who has the most money wins.

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