Dish Network Subscribers Keep Their DVRs -- For Now

August 20, 2006

Dish Network • Billing Issues • Contract Terms • Installation Woes • Pay Per View Disputes • Service Problems • An Insider's Advice --- News • Dish Network Dealers Settle With FTC Over 'Do Not Call' Charges • Dish Network Settles Customer Sales, Deceptive Service Charges • Feds, States Sue Dish Network • FTC Slams Dish Network Marketers • Dish Network Subscribers Keep Their DVRs -- For Now

Dish Network subscribers who use the company's digital video recorder (DVR) feature can breath a little easier. A federal appeals court has blocked, at least temporarily, a lower court order that the system be shut down.

A U.S. District Court had sided with Tivo, finding that Echostar Communications, which operates Dish Network, violated Tivo's patent when it introduced the DVR devices. Echostar was ordered to shut the system down and pay Tivo nearly $90 million in damages.

But an appeals court blocked the order until Echostar's appeal can be heard. The ruling would have included the shutdown of the DVR service within 30 days.

Currently, four million Dish Network subscribers use the DVR system. If Tivo prevails and Dish subscribers lsoe their DVRs, they could flee into the arms of DirecTV or their local cable system.

The lower court's decision also requires EchoStar to pay roughly $90 million in damages to Tivo.

The court held that Dish, owned by EchoStar Communications, was violating the federal government's "distant network signal" rule, which prohibits importing local stations into regions their signals don't normally reach.

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