Posted on 05/25/2012 2:29:21 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
Fox has sued Dish Network over its new Auto Hop feature which automatically eliminates network commercials during recorded playback.
Update at 6:15 p.m. ET: Dish has filed suit against all four major networks, asking for a ruling that Auto Hop does not infringe any network copyright and that the satcaster is not in violation of its agreement with the networks. Also, NBC Universal filed a separate suit against Dish.
The Fox suit, which was filed in Los Angeles, says the Auto Hop feature is not authorized and violates the satcaster's license with Fox. The network adds that Auto Hop could destroy its business model because viewers would not see their commercials.
Auto Hop, which was added this month to Dish's new Hopper HD DVR, allows viewers to watch the playback of a network show without ever seeing the commercials. (Auto Hop works with the set-top's 'PrimeTime Anytime' network recordings. The Hopper automatically records all primetime shows on ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS.)
Unlike the Fast Forward button on a DVR, Auto Hop automatically removes the commercial without the viewer doing a thing.
NBC and Fox network executives last week blasted the Auto Hop, saying it was an "insult" and an "attack."
Or perhaps not - I misunderstood the first read through...
The easiest, simplest and best solution is to wait a year and rent the show on Blu Ray. No commercials, chapters added, and great PQ and audio.
I don’t watch much TV, but I would not get one of these.
Mostly because some of the commercials are better than most TV!
Remove commercials and you'll pay a lot more for satellite and cable.
I mute the commercials when watching live TV.
The wife of a friend of mine works in the TV commercial industry - she winces like I just kicked her every time I do it.
I find that amusing!
I mute internet commercials before a video. If the advertiser is “cute” and disables the funtion, I use the who system mute.
As for the networks, it is call a fast forward. At 100x fast forward it manually hops over their nonsense. This hop feature is nothing more than a timed commercial.
right now auto hop is just on the networks (who watches the network ghetto?)
If it becomes available on the other channels imagine what would happen to MSNBC? Dead air! Msnbc is an all obama commercials. A whole generation would forget chrissy mathews.
Is there a statute that commercials must be watched?
perhaps the time for ala carte has arrived.
I would love to be able to zap cross network commercials for shows I do not want to see or ad crawls which destroy the viewing experience.
I was considering this the other day on the thread about going after illegal downloaders. I don’t have a DVR but like to download broadcast tv shows at the end of the season, so I can watch them as time allows. If DVR is considered fair use and simply time shifting, am I not doing the same thing by just downloading it later. I am not building a collection. After I watch an episode, I delete it. I thought the case could be made about commercials, but people with DVR’s fast forward through the commercials and Dish allows you to remove them altogether.
Before people start flaming me for being a thief/infringer, I only download music from itunes, amazon, or indie sites. Movies come from redbox or blockbuster express. I only download broadcast tv shows like Fringe, Lost, Community, etc... I am only curious how downloading a tv program is different from DVR’ing the same program with the commercials removed.
We do. In a one hour slot, there is typically 45 minutes of programming and 15 minutes of commercial. My DVR remote has a "skip forward 30 seconds" button, which makes it convenient to skip the commercial segment with a few hits of the button.
Actually you pay more for ESPN than for HBO, it’s just indirectly. ESPN charges your cable company at least $25 per subscriber in the appropriate tier (which is usually the lowest tier) which of course gets passed on to you, I can get HBO for $15. ESPN is owned by The Mouse, The Mouse always wins.
I do that all the time. There's nothing on TV that I HAVE to see the night it is aired.
Source? That's almost an order of magnitude off. This source says just over $5 per sub for ESPN and ESPN2, which are far and away the highest per sub in the non-Premium tier. Most of the other channels are less than $1 per sub, some much less.
When they were arguing with Cox (my cable providor) Cox was saying 24 in e-mails to us hoping we’d tell ESPN to lower the cost. Guess Cox lied.
I’m waiting for a DVR that will reach out and slap network executives and advertising people upside the head.
Some might remember when CATV was strictly a license to steal. Back in those days one of the CATV providers was sued by WGN for stealing their signal and stripping out WGN’s commercials and replacing them with their own.
WGN lost that suit, as I recall, don’t know if there has been other cases that might have overturned that.
This is why I would not want to use it. I'm perfectly happy DVR'ing the shows and skipping the commercials manually. Besides, there might be a commercial I want to see.
As do I when I watch, which is less with each passing day. But notice how Fox New Channel/and their sponsors, knowing this, blast that frantic voiceover pitchman sandwiched betwixt the end of a segment and the traditional ad break. I've given some thought before of going Elvis on a TV. Won't be long before the networks and their allies devise even more intrusive tricks to reach their shrinking audience. Two more months with DISH and my 24 month contract and it's so long suckas. Although I don't hold them accountable for the crap content and they've been fair while providing excellent customer service, unlike ATT&T who tried to cheat me when I was their customer. But that's an integral part of their business model and who they are...they can't help it.
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