Moving Forward with Network DVR

Legal Issues Aside, Service Providers Must Consider Infrastructure Issues Surrounding nDVR

While last week’s court ruling breathes new life into the network-based DVR service Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) had attempted to launch years ago, larger network, content and security issues must be addressed before telcos and cablecos deploy such offerings.

Major Hollywood movie studios claimed Cablevision’s Remote Access-Digital Video Recorder (RA-DVR) service violated copyright issues, and the courts agreed, blocking launch of the service and chilling the potential market. But the cableco appealed the decision, and a U.S. court sided with the cable giant. This appears to set the stage for operators that have claimed they wanted to offer network-based DVR services finally to do so. However, creating and rolling out this kind of service is far easier said than done.

Before launching into network DVR, service providers first must forge mutually beneficial relationships with content owners. Given the way network DVR got its start, that is an iffy proposition, but things clearly are looking up.

What happened early on with the Cablevision network DVR plan, experts concur, is that fearing these concerns (and a new use of their content assets), Hollywood reverted to its default plan — the best offense is a strong defense — and fought the innovative offering. In fact, content owners may appeal last week’s ruling. However, asked in late June if there was any hope of ending the standoff between operators and content owners on network DVR services, a group representing the latter seemed to think there was light at the end of the tunnel — and it wasn’t an oncoming train.

“The original Cablevision service was not what our members had in mind,” said Jim Williams, CTO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represents six of the largest movie studios. “But I get a sense now that both sides are willing to work together for a common good. But content owners want the terms and conditions of each choice to be honored,” he added, stressing that he’s not the legal spokesman for the MPAA.

Others say that concerns about content security and protection vastly are overblown, especially given that some content already is being cached in content delivery networks (CDNs) as a means of speeding its delivery to consumers. For example, Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) does this caching through its deal with CBSSportsline.com to deliver streaming video to basketball fans during March Madness. And video-on-demand services, core components of most large cableco and telco TV packages, employ server farms using equipment from the likes of SeaChange International Inc. (SEAC); this is just another example of how service providers are storing content on their networks before they deliver it to end users.

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