[LINK] IceTV and TiVo

[Stephen Loosley]

Speaking of TV ..

Nine loses electronic program guide case
by Asher Moses
August 9, 2007 - 10:44AM

<http://www.theage.com.au/news/home-theatre/nine-loses-electronic-program-guide-case/2007/08/09/1186530493565.html>

The Nine Network has lost its bid to retain control over how and when people consume its television shows in a landmark court judgment today.

In a David and Goliath battle played out before the Federal Court, Nine alleged Sydney-based IceTV's electronic program guide (EPG) - an online TV guide subscribers can use to schedule television recordings from their computer, personal video recorder or mobile phone - breached its copyright.

Nine claimed IceTV's guide was too similar to its own, but it is widely held that a a key concern was the potential for IceTV users to skip through advertisements in recorded shows.

Handing down her judgment today, Justice Annabelle Bennett agreed Nine owned the copyright to its program guide but dismissed Nine's claim on the basis that IceTV "does not reproduce a substantial part of" Nine's guide. <snip>

 IceTV's general manager Matt Kossatz said "It's obviously a win for a small Aussie start-up against a large media company, but more importantly, it's a win for Aussie consumers," he said.

Many viewed Nine's court action as an old media versus new media battle, which saw Nine fighting to maintain control of the consumption of its programs.

IceTV - which has 6500 paying subscribers and several thousand free subscribers on the trial version - has always maintained its EPG did not infringe Nine copyright because it used publicly-available information and wrote its own program descriptions.

It also claimed it was not responsible for subscribers using their computers or video recorders to make copies of television shows and skip ads because the IceTV service simply provided the recording software.


The legal battle took an ironic turn last month when Free TV Australia, the industry body that represents commercial broadcasters, announced it had secured an agreement to make program guides available in electronic form to makers of personal video recorders.

The guide will be used to schedule recordings through the TiVo box, which Seven plans to sell in Australia early next year.

TiVo's functionality is similar to today's personal video recorders loaded with Ice TV's software, but ambiguous conditions laid down by Free TV Australia over the use of the program guide could greatly limit TiVo's potential.

Julie Flynn, chief executive of Free TV Australia, said manufacturers who wish to use the new EPG must comply with "base-level requirements designed to protect copyright, protect the integrity of the program information and facilitate collection of ratings information".

This would require manufacturers to alter their product for the Australian market and leave owners of current digital video recorders which don't meet the commercial broadcasters' requirements in the lurch.
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Cheers people
Stephen Loosley
Victoria, Australia
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