Yeh, Tivo contends that the new software is basically the same platform as their original.
DISH Network and EchoStar Statement Regarding Tivo
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This is a preemptive strike by E*. Tivo wants the judge to find E* in contempt of the injunction without taking into account whether or not E* has changed the software enough to no longer infringe. E* just wants to make sure that it is taken into account. That being said, E* had better be pretty sure that that they're right, or this could really get ugly!
During TiVo's recent earnings call, they said that they're about 50-50 DirecTiVo (1.7 million) versus TiVo (1.7 million) customers now. Some 677,000 lifetime subscriptions (no cash flow).
They had a great quarter, but they project that the hemorrhaging will continue in the current quarter.
They see their future in licensing technology and advertising. This is why they decided to cave in on the lifetime subscription moratorium.
In the end this whole thing really has nothing to do with the technical merits of the patent or the case but rather what lawyers can best convince a technologically ignorant judge and jury that their client is right. The system is hopelessly broken with no fix in sight.
Tivo filed their lawsuit in a TX town that their lawyers thought had the least chance of finding a jury that actually had any clue at all how the technology worked. Dish has now done the same thing by filing in DE. Interestingly, neither company has filed where they are headquartered or in an area where there is actually a chance of pulling a jury pool that might just have a chance of understanding the real merits of the case.
Both companies, IMHO, should be ashamed of themselves and have not put the best interests of their customers (or even shareholders) first. Just because what they are doing is legal, doesn't make it right.
Personally, I hope Dish is found totally compliant in their modifications, but still has to pay TIVO for past infractions.
Tivo filed their lawsuit in a TX town that their lawyers thought had the least chance of finding a jury that actually had any clue at all how the technology worked. Dish has now done the same thing by filing in DE. Interestingly, neither company has filed where they are headquartered or in an area where there is actually a chance of pulling a jury pool that might just have a chance of understanding the real merits of the case.
Both companies, IMHO, should be ashamed of themselves and have not put the best interests of their customers (or even shareholders) first. Just because what they are doing is legal, doesn't make it right.
Personally, I hope Dish is found totally compliant in their modifications, but still has to pay TIVO for past infractions.
THis is plain stupid. I don't know why a billionaire like Charlie Ergen doesn't just buy that damn TIVO company already and end this indecision and all this lawsuit hoopla. I don't think that this continuing lawsuit hanging over the heads of the DISH subs and the dish stock holders, is worth it to the bottom line. CHarlie will HAVE to settle one day , why not just go ahead and buy the damn company and make the tivo software echostar's to do what they with. THey bought Sling Media so I know it is not a matter of cash problems here. It is just plain hard pig headedness of the ceo of Echostar/DISH = Charlie Ergen. I know I for one am plain SICK of hearing about this ongoing lawsuit every year now for what is it now: 5 years?
If the hardware requires separating the audio from the video (and I suspect that it may), then the software can't change that.
Looking on Sourceforge at the PVRExplorer package, it seems abundantly clear that audio and video remain separated and this software is required to convert what is on the hard drive to a single MPEG2 stream. Based on this evidence, I'd have to guess that DISH Network is indeed infringing.
Looking on Sourceforge at the PVRExplorer package, it seems abundantly clear that audio and video remain separated and this software is required to convert what is on the hard drive to a single MPEG2 stream. Based on this evidence, I'd have to guess that DISH Network is indeed infringing.
You are correct. Tivo continues to say that their newer DVRs still infringe with their patent. Echostar is asking the Delaware that the new DVRs do not infringe on their current DVRs in service. If Delaware agrees , Tivo is limited going forward only with Texas injunction.
Tivo has more problems than solutions at this point. from their CEO "How are they going to get bigger? I think having access to the Cox and Comcast subscriber bases eventually is the answer to that. That's one-third of the entire cable universe, and that drives the overall subscriber base, which is important for their advertising business," Mitchell said.
Tivo subs decrease to 3.8 million from 4.3 milllion last year
I wonder what the take is for Tivo DVR's on Comcast? I saw a recent PR that said they were rolling out Tivo based DVR's to more New England states which might help make up for the loss of D* income.
The countersuit is a motion to change venue without all of the unnecessary paperwork as Delware is a different appeals circuit than consumer and small corporations friendly Texas. It's rather clever when you think about it. A verdict in Texas won't necessarily carry over so it's an appeal without appealing as well as a proactive countermeasure by E*. Stockholders be damned.
Charlie can keep this tied up in the courts for long enough to ensure that Tivo's execs don't get to take the amount of damages and bail as they were intending. Tivo has no desire to stay in business, this is their big cashout; they're just finding it very difficult to get a check. Charlie will bleed Tivo out versus buying them out, possibly into an amount for court costs that exceeds damages.
The best part about Tivo's going out of business sale will be the death of the Tivo fanboy.
This whole thing is a Joke!
Don't Expect Echostar to pay out one cent, and don't expect any DVR's to be shut down anytime soon!
Don't Expect Echostar to pay out one cent, and don't expect any DVR's to be shut down anytime soon!
Minimal expenses. They have done an excellent job of cost cuting and they no longer advertise to any great degree. Which is a partial explanation for the declining membership as well.
That's the beauty of the patent system !! The "functionality" of how something is done doesn't mean squat ! If you end up with the same result, it's considered infringing.
That only applies in the case of a hostile takeover. TiVo is dying and has little to no hope of coming back so they won't hesitate to take a buyout.
Here is my take.
When a company goes to the Eastern District of Texas for a patent lawsuit (as TIVO did), it is because they *know* they can not win in any other court in the nation. The Eastern District of Texas is notorious for "affirming" bogus patents, patents that have a ton of prior art, and patents that are ... ahem ... patently obvious.
When a company goes to the Eastern District of Texas for a patent lawsuit (as TIVO did), it is because they *know* they can not win in any other court in the nation. The Eastern District of Texas is notorious for "affirming" bogus patents, patents that have a ton of prior art, and patents that are ... ahem ... patently obvious.
You keep bringing this up, and we keep refuting it. This so-called "poison pill" isn't any big deal in the larger scheme of things. It just makes them more expensive, not anywhere close to impossible.
Patent Office upholds key TiVo patent at issue in EchoStar lawsuit
Published: November 29, 2007
TiVo appears to have won a decisive victory in its patent infringement lawsuit against satellite TV provider EchoStar. Today, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a final and unappealable decision on TiVo's patent 6,233,389 for a "multimedia time warping system," ruling that the patent was valid and enforceable.
"We are extremely pleased that the PTO has now found all claims of the Time Warp Patent to be valid after conducting a reexamination of the patent requested by EchoStar," said TiVo in a statement.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...tivo-patent-at-issue-in-echostar-lawsuit.html
Published: November 29, 2007
TiVo appears to have won a decisive victory in its patent infringement lawsuit against satellite TV provider EchoStar. Today, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a final and unappealable decision on TiVo's patent 6,233,389 for a "multimedia time warping system," ruling that the patent was valid and enforceable.
"We are extremely pleased that the PTO has now found all claims of the Time Warp Patent to be valid after conducting a reexamination of the patent requested by EchoStar," said TiVo in a statement.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...tivo-patent-at-issue-in-echostar-lawsuit.html
