Funny, but TiVo now has agreements with the three companies you name. TiVo doesn't have an agreement with Dish Network, which is the largest deployer of non-TiVo DVR's. So of course they went after Dish Network. TiVo certainly will go after others, probably Time Warner next. First they'll have to win this suit.
Updated: Court blocks Permanent Injuction ordering DISH DVRs disabled
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If they win the suit against Dish, they set a precident and will easily win against future law suits against any and all DVR makers.
They will effectively have a monopoly.
They are:
The TiVo-Mafia: "You maka da DVR, I busta your legs"
I'm going to patent a nitrogen/oxygen mixture, then sue anyone who doesn't pay me for breathing.
They will effectively have a monopoly.
They are:
The TiVo-Mafia: "You maka da DVR, I busta your legs"
I'm going to patent a nitrogen/oxygen mixture, then sue anyone who doesn't pay me for breathing.
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Stuff like this is almost always more than it appears in the back offices. There's stuff going on behind the scenes that we'll likely never know about...
I found this posted by someone over at Yahoo Dish message board:
Recv'd this from DISH on Aug., 31:
Dear DISH Network Customer,
Thank you for your email regarding the TIVO litigation. We understand your questions and concerns. I want to assure you we are leaving no stone unturned in protecting your DVR service.
On August 18, 2006 we successfully persuaded a Federal Court in Washington, D.C. to block an earlier ruling by a Texas court which would have required DISH Network to shut off your DVR functionality in 30 days. This means that you can continue to use your DVR and all its great functionality.
We are convinced the Texas court ruling was wrong and we will continue to do everything we reasonably can to defend against Tivo, and others who want something for nothing. Please continue to watch for developments. We expect the Federal Court to issue a ruling soon that will protect you from any inconvenience long term. Among other things, we also continue to work on software modifications that we could download to your DVR by satellite that would be seamless to you, and would avoid any disruption for you even if the court decision does not turn out as we expect.
We thank you for being a loyal DISH Network customer and appreciate your patience as we do everything we can to resolve this issue.
If you have any further questions, please reply to this email.
Sincerely,
Terry B.
DISH Network eCare
Anyone have ideas what "software modifications that we could download to your DVR by satellite that would be seamless to you, and would avoid any disruption for you even if the court decision does not turn out as we expect" is getting at?
Recv'd this from DISH on Aug., 31:
Dear DISH Network Customer,
Thank you for your email regarding the TIVO litigation. We understand your questions and concerns. I want to assure you we are leaving no stone unturned in protecting your DVR service.
On August 18, 2006 we successfully persuaded a Federal Court in Washington, D.C. to block an earlier ruling by a Texas court which would have required DISH Network to shut off your DVR functionality in 30 days. This means that you can continue to use your DVR and all its great functionality.
We are convinced the Texas court ruling was wrong and we will continue to do everything we reasonably can to defend against Tivo, and others who want something for nothing. Please continue to watch for developments. We expect the Federal Court to issue a ruling soon that will protect you from any inconvenience long term. Among other things, we also continue to work on software modifications that we could download to your DVR by satellite that would be seamless to you, and would avoid any disruption for you even if the court decision does not turn out as we expect.
We thank you for being a loyal DISH Network customer and appreciate your patience as we do everything we can to resolve this issue.
If you have any further questions, please reply to this email.
Sincerely,
Terry B.
DISH Network eCare
Anyone have ideas what "software modifications that we could download to your DVR by satellite that would be seamless to you, and would avoid any disruption for you even if the court decision does not turn out as we expect" is getting at?
Deactivating pause, replay and skip functions doesn't sound like "seamless ... and would avoid any disruption." I fear any quick fix software updates from DISH. Their regular software updates have a history of problems. I imagine a last minute update will make us all beta testers again.
JUST BUY TIVO ALREADY CHARLIE!!
THis is so stupid. Dish has been found guilty of a patent infringement of Tivos. THey are not going to hear the Dish countersuit for years, if ever. This leaves Dish no option other than to either buy Tivo or pay the 78.9 million settlement and then work a license deal with Tivo for their software .
I would hope that buying Tivo would make more sense as it would then be paying money from one hand of Echostar to the other hand of Echostar /Tivo. Then we could have networking capabilities, advanced search features and Dish could have money coming in from stand alone Tivo customers and all the Directv Tivo customers, Cox and Comcast cable customers to boot.
Why gamble on the success of your company and its future because you don't want to settle a lawsuit and pay for the patent infringement? Dish can not handle the churn from all their dvr customers who would be loosing their dvr service as they have always known it. I For one would also churn if I lost my dvr capabilities on my 622 dvrs and I am a 10 year Dish customer.
THis is so stupid. Dish has been found guilty of a patent infringement of Tivos. THey are not going to hear the Dish countersuit for years, if ever. This leaves Dish no option other than to either buy Tivo or pay the 78.9 million settlement and then work a license deal with Tivo for their software .
I would hope that buying Tivo would make more sense as it would then be paying money from one hand of Echostar to the other hand of Echostar /Tivo. Then we could have networking capabilities, advanced search features and Dish could have money coming in from stand alone Tivo customers and all the Directv Tivo customers, Cox and Comcast cable customers to boot.
Why gamble on the success of your company and its future because you don't want to settle a lawsuit and pay for the patent infringement? Dish can not handle the churn from all their dvr customers who would be loosing their dvr service as they have always known it. I For one would also churn if I lost my dvr capabilities on my 622 dvrs and I am a 10 year Dish customer.
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i would like to know how dish plans to just buy out tivo? first, tivo would have to be willing to sell. that's not going to happen with all the royalties they are getting from the cable co's and directv.
"i would like to know how dish plans to just buy out tivo?"
As far as I can tell, Dish has no plans on buying Tivo out.
Any mention of that here is in the "they should" or "wouldn't it be nice if they did" catagory by members of the forum, not any by anyone at Dish.
(Please correct me if I'm wrong!!)
As far as I can tell, Dish has no plans on buying Tivo out.
Any mention of that here is in the "they should" or "wouldn't it be nice if they did" catagory by members of the forum, not any by anyone at Dish.
(Please correct me if I'm wrong!!)
Without the PAUSE FF REW SKIP fucntions it will not be a "True DVR". It will record but that would be it. If those functions or certain ones would disappear then would the DVR Fee really be worth the $5.99? HECK NO IT WOULDN'T!!!! If Dish had to charge less for the DVR fees then it would probably not cost anymore to just pay Tivo to keep it at $5.99. If Dish was smart they would know this. Dish is going to try to get out of paying for the DVR fee first but they would have to do what it would take to keep it a "True DVR".
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If Dish did a hostile take-over, then Tivo would probably have no say in the matter.cybertrip said:
A hostile take-over would be Dish purchasing a controlling share of TIVO publicly traded stock. Currently going for less than $8 a share TIVO Stock
Wow - what a flashback!
This whole thing reminds me of the uproar back in the mid 80's when C-band satellite dish owners got upset when the companies uplinking HBO, Showtime, etc decided to protect their rights by scrambling the feeds and offering access for a fee. The satellite channel uplinks were originally intended for feeding the signal to cable companies. Some clever folks created the home satellite hardware industry around these "free" feeds and when it started impacting paid subscriptions the satellite channels scrambled to protect their rights. Home satellite dish owners yelled from the rooftops how unfair it was!
It's not "protection money" and it's not like patenting oxygen. They apparently have valid patents that they are defending. And why shouldn't they? If you had come up with and patented the idea, and had a company selling products based on the patents, would you just roll over and let anyone use it without paying?
jdr01930 said:
This whole thing reminds me of the uproar back in the mid 80's when C-band satellite dish owners got upset when the companies uplinking HBO, Showtime, etc decided to protect their rights by scrambling the feeds and offering access for a fee. The satellite channel uplinks were originally intended for feeding the signal to cable companies. Some clever folks created the home satellite hardware industry around these "free" feeds and when it started impacting paid subscriptions the satellite channels scrambled to protect their rights. Home satellite dish owners yelled from the rooftops how unfair it was!
It's not "protection money" and it's not like patenting oxygen. They apparently have valid patents that they are defending. And why shouldn't they? If you had come up with and patented the idea, and had a company selling products based on the patents, would you just roll over and let anyone use it without paying?
Surprisingly enough, who was one of the players in the big C-band days, with Houston Tracker Systems? Hint, the president of the company happens to be the CEO and Chairman of a satellite company that competes with DirecTV.bbtkd said:
Mr. Brimson
With you demostrated knowledge of the law, what would happen if TiVo should go belly-up and file for bankruptcy. Would the patents in question go on fire sale by the court? Looking at thier financial picture, I find nothing viable in the company, certainly not worth investing in.
With you demostrated knowledge of the law, what would happen if TiVo should go belly-up and file for bankruptcy. Would the patents in question go on fire sale by the court? Looking at thier financial picture, I find nothing viable in the company, certainly not worth investing in.
I do not see Dish buying Tivo, it would be a lot cheaper for them just to liscense the patents. Why buy a company that has been unprofitable for so many years. I suspect that Dish is in heavy talks now about licensing the patents and cross licensing Dish's patents back to Tivo. It is just a matter of how much the Dish patents offset the Tivo patents. The Tivo patents have the advantage of already going through the court system, the Dish patents are untested, so probably worth less. Paying 50-100million for a license (depending on how much their Dish can get for their patents) is far better than 350+ million for a controlling interest in a company that may never make real money.
