Dish Network is having issues with TiVo; the company is using video equipment meant to be sold and viewed, in an illegal way. The way TiVo issues their programs is also illegal in how they display the channel information. TiVo’s use of controlling and stopping the television when the viewer wants, in order to record missed shows, is also illegal. By doing these illegal actions, TiVo has used Microsoft’s technology without their permission. Several other companies have complained about the same problems including: Verizon Communications Inc., Microsoft, and EchoStar Corp. Microsoft sued TiVo in court on Tuesday, January 19th in San Francisco. However, Microsoft wishes to enact a license agreement with TiVo, rather than fight the issue in court.
Another issue many satillite and phone providers are facing is the barrier of local news and sports games. Many local cable connections dominate the ability to record and send the game through their program only, so any satillite network outside of the local region isn’t able to get the feedback from the game to send through their channels. This is affecting Dish Network, Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc., and DirecTV. On Wednesday January 20th, however, the US Federal Communications Commissions ordered local cable programs to unblock sports games to satellite providers. Viewers are now able to have more choices when choosing the provider for their television needs. They won’t be trapped to watch only through their local cable provider to watch local teams.
