Never enough time… Copy and collate Internet video with Tioti. (TechCrunch) Tag DRM-ed Amazon products as such. (Defective by Design) Buy an HD DVD player, get three HD DVDs free. (EngadgetHD) Another Apple iPod touch screen patent application. (Apple Insider)
The story so far… September, 2006 Digeo, maker of the Moxi DVR, files an antitrust lawsuit against Gemstar, the TV Guide electronic/interactive programming guide folks, as described in the Seattle Times: The rivalry between Digeo and Gemstar surfaced Thursday in federal court in Seattle, where Digeo filed a lawsuit claiming that Gemstar violated federal and … Read more
Never enough time… Cisco patents “triple play” of services. (Engadget) Comcast rolls out improved program guide. (Comcast) Gemstar/TV Guide sues Digeo/Moxi in patent case. (Reuters) Nokia to ship phones preloaded with Orb. (Engadget Mobile)
Never enough time… Orb 2.0 public beta available. (jkOnTheRun) Dave quizzes Motorola exec on OCAP. (PVRWire) EvokeTV bites the dust. (GigaOM) Moxi picks up three DVR UI patents. (Press Release) DirecTV, HDTV, and the resolution question. (Missing Remote)
Never enough time… MythTV .20 released. (PVRWire) DVR patent to show advertising key frames during fast forward. (Engadget) AOL to stream NBC shows. (Reuters) Microsoft building YouTube clone. (TechCrunch) DirecTV over WIMAX? (GigaOM)
TiVo sues EchoStar. EchoStar retaliates by suing TiVo. Fast forward a year or so… EchoStar’s suit is stayed, pending analysis by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. ALVISO, Calif., Aug 28, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and the leader in television services for digital video … Read more
The ruling is in: Within 30 days, all infringing Dish DVR functionality must be disabled and TiVo‘s initial award comes to about ninety million big ones. The market should be interesting tomorrow AM and EchoStar is sure to appeal. If you’re just tuning in, you can catch up here — otherwise check out the official court ruling below.
UPDATE 1: TiVo and EchoStar respond with dueling press releases.
UPDATE 2: EchoStar is granted a stay, cause for more press releases
The USPTO has just published TiVo’s Method and apparatus for secure transfer of previously broadcasted content and Method and apparatus for secure transfer and playback of multimedia content patent applications. Within the documents TiVo describes several methods to authenticate customers and securely distribute content via the internet for DVR and portable device playback. I’ve been pleading for some sort of VOD/PPV functionality, so the subscription and billing scenarios are particularly exciting. Content can be flagged by type (free, subscription, PPV), which in turn may specify or limit distribution and viewing. Interestingly, TiVo differentiates their DVR service from the content service/provider. Also of interest… it looks like they’ve documented the TiVoToGo MPEG-2 encryption/decryption keys as SHA-1 of your DVR network adapter’s MAC address. ;)
In another embodiment, whether through the DVR interface or through the website of Service Provider 106, a payment structure can be built into the system such that the user is charged each time a previously broadcasted program content is received by DVR 101. Thus, an additional screen requesting billing or payment information may be displayed to the user to enter in the appropriate information. This information is then supplied to the Service Provider 106 as part of the request for content. Alternatively, the billing or payment information may have been previously supplied to and stored by the Service Provider 106, such that any subsequent request for previously broadcasted program content is automatically processed without presenting another screen to the DVR user.