TiVo Wins Another Echostar Patent Ruling > TiVo gains second judgment against Echostar

reply to DCIFRTHS

Re: TiVo gains second judgment against Echostar

Yeah, 'cause juries and judges always get it right, just as O.J.
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POKE 65495,1

reply to DCIFRTHS
Yeah, but it doesn't make them right.

Firstly, Dish WAS developing their own DVR prior to the much ballyhooed "Tivo demos." In fact, I remember they were working with Microsoft at the time. MS briefly promoted their "Ultimate TV" box but quickly withdrew it or cancelled it. I remember Echostar got with MS and had them develop software.

Engineers testified at the trial that the Echostar DVR's were not based on Tivo's hardware or software but on inhouse developed code.

It really doesn't matter, what it all boils down to is Tivo won patents and then the features Echostar was using *were* infringing on those patents, so they win. However it bugs me when people say it's "Stolen" or "copied" and that the judgements are deserved. They're legal, alright, but hardly "fair". There's a reason DirecTV bought up ReplayTV's patent portfolio. It becomes a shield against Tivo. Personally I think the Tivo patents are overly broad in scope and patent not just a method but a concept or idea, and they they were granted while prior art or at least co-developing DVR's were clearly evident. Some of the patents they have also seem to seriously violate the "Obviousness" of extensions of existing technology.

So, heads, Tivo wins, tails, Echostar loses. But that doesn't mean it's a just ruling. It's just a legal one.
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"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini