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Supreme Courts Greenlights Cloud-enabled DVRs

Pulkit Chandna — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:50:56 -0500

Cablevision Systems, the 5th largest cable provider in the US, has endured a long legal battle against leading American TV programmers and providers, but now that its legal woes have finally ended, the company has the Supreme Court’s sanction to launch its network DVR system.

A person using the network DVR would be able to record programs without a dedicated, physical DVR box as the programs would be stored on a server maintained by Cablevision. Cablevision had first announced the cloud-enabled technology in 2006, however, it was soon beset and dragged to court by TV programmers and providers. Cablevision is going to roll out a limited preview of the service this summer.

Image Credit: Zatznotfunny

Small Town Triumphs in Legal Battle, Wins Right to Build Fiber Network

Pulkit Chandna — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:08:38 -0500

The small town of Monticello, Minnesota has emerged victorious in its legal battle against TDS Telecom. Unimpressed by the DSL and cable services being offered by TDS Telecom, the town with a population of 10,000 people decided to build a fiber network on its own.

But this riled up the telecom company’s feathers. TDS quickly adopted a browbeating approach and filed a suit against the town over the proposed fiber network. The company argued that revenue bonds can not be used for something – broadband internet – that isn’t actually a “utility”.

The court has dismissed TDS’ suit. The Judge said that the town has full authority to fund the project with bonds (worth $26.4 million).

Hillcrest Labs Presses for Ban on Wii Import

Pulkit Chandna — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:03:48 -0500

Rockville-based B2B firm Hillcrest Labs, which licenses its technologies to major CE companies, has filed a complaint against Nintendo with the U.S. International Trade Commission and a patent infringement suit in the U.S. District Court in Maryland. Hillcrest Labs alleges that the motion-sensitive Wii Remote and the console’s navigational interface display system are in violation of four of its patents. The company is praying for an embargo on the import of Nintendo Wii in the U.S. The Wii is so much fun that it would be a cardinal sin to even consider the possibility of it being banned anywhere. But the possibility exists as the jury is now quite literally out on the veracity of the allegations. Let’s see how this pans out.