DISH -VS- VOOM - A Settlement has been reached!

[jacmyoung]

With regard to the TiVo v. Dish case, I was more correct than most people including Greg.

I was the one predicted a settlement when almost everyone said there would be no end.

I was the one pointed out the en banc panel actually invalidated the injunction, when everyone said no, they did not say that, but a few days later when they sent the case back to Judge Folsom, they did not reinstate the injunction.

Had the original en banc panel remained the same, Dish would have won, but in the final vote, they added two newly installed judges, who did not participate in the hearing, and who clearly had reason to sympathize with their own fellow Judge Folsom, voted to tip the case in TiVo's favor.

The dissenting judges were all experienced patent judges, they never backed off from their initial dissent. To the contrary, the two judges (out of three) who were against Dish, had to change their stance on the most important issue in order to hand a split decision.

In the end, Dish only had to pay TiVo a reasonable fee to continue to use TiVo's DVR technology for the next 7 years, they did not have to pay any past fees. Not because TiVo was stupid, but because TiVo knew if Dish continued to appeal, they would not be so lucky next time.

Why after the settlement, Dish's stock went up, TiVo's stock went down, and stayed low.



The reason I am pointing out all this is not trying to defend myself, but to demonstrate that, the analysts are not always right. You can claim victory when you in effect have lost.

TiVo lost that case, why else it's value had gone down after the case was over?

I am certainly not speculating on this case now, because I have not read any of the court papers. On the other hand, from the past case, I am reluctant to believe what the analysts are saying. In the TiVo case, they have proven that their stock performance evaluations were wrong, despite the fact they could claim they were right.

[riffjim4069]

Source

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Dish, Cablevision haven't settled: Trial in NY state court starts Wednesday

AMC Networks and Dish are due in court this week, with jury selection starting Wednesday in lower Manhattan for a breach of contract trial. Opening arguments may start as early as Thursday with Cablevision chairman Charles Dolan and AMC chief Josh Sapan taking the stand. Proceedings could last three to four weeks. AMC has long maintained that the reason for the ongoing carriage dispute between the companies -- Dish yanked AMC Networks' AMC, Sundance, IFC and WeTV months ago -- is that Dish has been seeking to gain an advantage in the unrelated litigation.

As the court date looms, industry players are increasingly surprised the parties haven't settled, especially Dish. The satellite service could be on the hook for up to $2.5 billion plus another $1 billion in interest. And Dish was sanctioned by a judge in the case for destroying evidence, which may not sit well with a jury. "I'm scratching my head. If my clients were in this, I would have counseled a settlement," said one entertainment attorney. "My sense has been from the get-go that this is litigation strategy of digging in their heels to get some advantage. It still seems extremely likely they will settle." Wall Street thinks AMC, too, would be best served by putting the case to bed.


Full Story




Okay, so it looks as though Dolan (Cablevision) and Sapan (AMC) may be taking the stand later this week. Is a settlement still a possibility? I don't think these people like one another...

[Voyager6]

Another article on the Dish/Cablevision trial.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ad-men-to-dish

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The root of Dish's defense:

The trial will revolve around the Voom contract and whether Cablevision spent enough money on the service after Dish agreed to carry the programming.

Spending Requirement

Dish said in court filings it terminated the contract because Cablevision didn’t spend the required $100 million a year on programming as required. AMC and Cablevision argued in their filings that an audit found Voom spent almost $103 million in 2006. That sum included corporate overhead expenses of at least $12 million, while the contract required the money to be spent on programming, according to Dish.

The legal issue boils down to a dispute over the meaning of what constitutes spending “on the service,” as described in the contract.
“Dish may have had buyer’s remorse and was looking for a pretext to get out,” Bagchi said. “But AMC could have been in effect using Dish to subsidize other programming.”

[Poke]

Ok it's been awhile I remember when we use to have Voom so someone do a refresher Dish bought them out then at some point pulled the plug on them. I guess Voom thinks they still should be on the air or they feel like they were not treated right or something.. Just don't remember what the fuss was all about.. I will have to read through the pdf when I get time..

[Poke]

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Another article on the Dish/Cablevision trial.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ad-men-to-dish

Get rid of this ad below, as well as the link redirect by becoming a Supporting Pub Member

The root of Dish's defense:

Ok this helps I kind of remember now what the fuss was all about..

[HDRoberts]

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There was no reason Voom would not meet the spend requirement since their compliance would bring in billions of easy money into the Dolan's coffers.

There is a reason: greed. Why spend $100M on programming when some clever accountant can just claim millions in "overhead", and you are making all those millions extra a year? That is still one thing that can come back to bite them in the rear.