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Cablevision promises TV, VOD streaming to iPads, other networked devices -- but only at home
We suppose the good news is that Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge mentioned the intent is to bring all of its services -- broadcast TV, video on-demand -- to networked devices capable of displaying video, specifically mentioning the iPad, and that it is also working on program guide software for Android and PCs. Unfortunately, unlike the TV Everywhere websites from others like Comcast, or Dish's Sling-powered placeshifting Cablevision only plans to allow access within the residence. According to Light Reading, the comments came during the company's second quarter earnings call, when he also noted that the PC to TV Media Relay for bringing web video to the cable box was still undergoing testing ahead of a fourth quarter launch, while the long awaited network DVR is in its second phase of testing will also begin rolling out later this year. We're not sure if Cablevision's reluctance to extend video beyond our four walls is a technical issue, greed, or if it's simply tired of fighting Hollywood over content rights after the network DVR legal battle, but we're still hoping for a change of plans down the line.
Cablevision starts "limited deployment" of network DVR
The future has finally arrived, as New York-area Cablevision subscribers are getting their first taste of cloud based DVRs. Light Reading reports an email from spokesman Jim Maiella confirmed limited deployments which may be too late to securely record Lou Diamond Philips for our later viewing pleasure, but should quickly become more common as the cable company has already expressed plans to stop buying physical DVRs later this year. Even after legal entanglements have held things up for years we're not quite ready to switch away from local storage options yet, but any of you guinea pigs out there are more than welcome to share your opinions of it.
Supreme Court queues network DVR decision for later
Just like you haven't worked through all four hours of this season of 24 yet, the U.S. Supreme Court is pushing back a decision on Cablevision's network DVR a.k.a. Remote Storage Digital Video Recorder to ask the Justice Department for their thoughts. The cable companies (and others) looking to roll out this service scored a win in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals a few months ago, but this push back is being considered by at least one analyst as a slight victory for their opponents. Whether you side with the cable companies (and all those who found that their cable was grainy on Tuesday night during CES, resulting in unwatchable saved eps of Scrubs & The Mentalist and many, many tears) or the Hollywood studios claiming this would violate their copyright, grab a Snickers. It could take up to several months for the Justice Department to file a brief, at which time the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to hear the case at all.
Switched On: Hollywood's remote control turns revenue off
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: Last week's Switched On compared two devices that only peripherally compete with each other today, but which represent different approaches to acquiring TV shows. In a fit of serendipity, the arrival of the Apple TV occurred just as Cablevision's remote DVR service (RS-DVR) got the smackdown from a U.S. District Court. I am not a lawyer, but I can understand the rationale. RS-DVR is a video equivalent of the music locker service that MP3.com tried at the beginning of 2000. A CNET article written slightly after that service's launch noted: MP3.com admits that it has created a database of some 45,000 unlicensed CDs that it serves through its My.MP3.com accounts. But company executives argue that it is toeing the legal line by offering tracks under the "fair use" exemption of the copyright law, which allows consumers to make copies for personal use. Now, substitute "Cablevision" for "MP3.com, "TV shows" for "45,000 unlicensed CDs," and "RS-DVR service" for "My.MP3.com accounts." Cablevision's legal defense differed from that of MP3.com's, though. Trying to leverage the established legality of DVRs, it claimed to offer the equivalent of a legally protected DVR device, whereas the court found that RS-DVR was a service -- not a device. Consumers lose because RS-DVR could have enabled cheaper deployment not only of basic virtual DVR service but of long-delayed advances such as virtual multi-room DVR. Which, interestingly, brings us back to Apple TV.
