‘Skip TV Commercials’ case revives
A group of ReplayTV digital video recorder owners will on Monday ask a court to let other people with the systems join their lawsuit to allow them to skip TV commercials and send recorded programs from one digital device to another.
"I want to give my nephews and nieces a break from the rampant consumerism on TV by using ReplayTV’s commercial skipping feature," said Craig Newmark, craigslist.com community founder, ReplayTV user and one of five plaintiffs, here.
"These Hollywood guys want to stop me from using my digital video recorder like I use my VCR, like for watching shows when I want or zipping through commercials," says Newmark.
The five originally filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles asking the court to rule their use of the ReplayTV device is legal under copyright law.
"Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you’re actually stealing the programming," Turner Broadcasting ceo Jamie Kellner was quoted as saying in an interview with [INSIDE] Magazine. "Otherwise you couldn’t get the show on an ad-supported basis."
The coming case, with US District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper once again presiding, is the latest event in a long, and continuing, Hollywood plan to monitor and control consumer actions – whether the consumers like it or not.
In August, 2002, Judge Cooper combined two lawsuits brought by Sonicblue, now bankrupt but then the maker of ReplayTV systems, and the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), representing five ReplayTV owners who wanted a ruling to the effect that their use of the device was legal under copyright law.
The suits were filed against an action started a year earlier by the major TV networks which were suing Sonicblue, claiming ReplayTV and its DDV 2120 dual-deck VCR allowed viewers to email TV programs and by-pass commercials.
Sonicblue made the Diamond Rio range of portable mp3 players and had never been exactly popular with the entertainment industry. But Rio really upset them, especially the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). Copyright lawsuits flew thick and fast until they were eventually settled out of court.
Then came Sonicblue’s ReplayTV 4000 DVR with ‘autoskip’ to allow users to bypass commercials. And not only that, ReplayTV 4000 has a high-speed Net port so you can download and transfer video files and share recorded programs over the Net with up to 15 of your friends.
In other words, it gives you complete control over how, what, where and when.
Enter Charles F. Eick, a Central District Court Magistrate out of LA who, during pre-trial discovery in a lawsuit with Sonicblue in the sights, in effect ordered it to modify its ReplayTVs to collect data on what tv-watchers watch and to then give the information to a group from the entertainment industry.
By an astounding coincidence, the group to whom the data would have been passed included Paramount, Universal, Walt Disney and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; and, CBC, ABC and NBC – the very same crew, in other words, that was suing Sonicblue for alleged copyright violations.
Judge Cooper overturned her colleague’s order.
Now, with Sonicblue out of the way, the entertainment companies are attempting buy out the five individual ReplayTV owners by offering them, and only them, a "covenant not to sue," says the EFF.
What about the the estimated 5,000 other owners of ReplayTV digital video recorders with the commercial skipping and "send show" features? They swing in the wind, presumably.
Hollywood has also asked the court to dismiss the case.
But, "In the face of these challenges the plaintiffs are charging ahead, asking the court to include all ReplayTV owners in the case, and to determine, once and for all, whether they can legitimately use all of its features," says the EFF.
The proposed consumer class action representatives are Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist.org, Seattle journalist Glenn Fleishman, Southern Californian video engineer Phil Wright, and Thomas White.
They’re represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and San Rafael lawyer Ira Rothken.
Date: Monday, January 12, 2004
Time: 3:00 pm
Judge: Florence-Marie Cooper
Court: District Court, Central
District of California, Courtroom 750
Location: Edward R.
Roybal Federal Building and Courthouse, 255 East Temple
Street, Los Angeles, California 90012
