USTelecom Backs Cablevision in DVR Appeal

In what’s becoming a full-court press, the United States Telecom Association, along with consumer and industry groups, have filed a brief with the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals urging it to overturn a March ruling banning Cablevision Systems Corp. from launching a network-based digital video recorder (DVR) service.

The court ruled in favor of broadcast networks and content companies who argued the service violated copyright law. Cablevision filed an appeal and has won support from Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable, who said at the NCTA show last month that they would launch similar services if the ruling was overturned.

Cablevision’s planned service is built on content housed in network servers as opposed to content accessed by set-top devices in the home. Operators believe a network, or remote DVR service, would be cheaper to operate, maintain and support.

USTelecom, is a trade association representing service providers and suppliers for the telecom industry. Its members include AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and SureWest Communications, though the group didn’t say if its filing was specifically on behalf of these providers. It also boasts some 800 local exchange carrier members.

The companies seeking to block network DVR services in the suit include CBS Corp. NBC Universal, the Walt Disney Co. and Turner Networks.

USTelecom said groups supporting the brief include the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Broadband Service Providers Association, Computer & Communications Industry Association, Consumer Electronics Association and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.

“Network-based services may prove to be both cheaper and technologically superior, providing better service at reduced costs to consumers. But these benefits that many consumers now take for granted could disappear if this District Court decision is not overturned or significantly revised,” explained USTelecom President and CEO Walter B. McCormick Jr., in a statement. “The District Court’s decision could chill technological progress aimed at providing consumers the best and most flexible solutions for delivering the video content they want.”

The group outlined several fundamental problems with the court’s ruling including the immediate threat the decision poses to technological progress. The association said widespread availability of broadband Internet connections has led to new forms of information processing, storage and retrieval, all enabled by remote, interconnected computers owned and maintained by third parties and accessible to many.

Rather than having to own, maintain and upgrade devices in their own homes, USTelecom maintains, consumers increasingly have remote access to services that provide the same or better capabilities more efficiently and conveniently, and that enable the sharing of information among all users.

AT&T Inc. www.att.com
Cablevision Systems Corp. www.cablevision.com
Comcast Corp. www.comcast.com
Time Warner Cable, Inc. www.timewarner.com
SureWest Communications www.surewest.com
USTelecom www.ustelecom.org
Verizon Communications Inc. www.verizon.com

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