Public Knowledge Denounces Broadcaster Suits Against Dish

RELATED:Fox, NBC, CBS Sue Dish Over Ad-Skipping DVR

Dish Sues Broadcasters for Stifling Auto Hop

Fair use fan Public Knowledge took aim at Fox for
challenging Dish.

"It is truly unfortunate for consumers that Fox has filed
suit against Dish Network," said Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said
in a statement. "That suit charges Dish with copyright violations for the
satellite company's DVR which allows consumers to skip commercials, but also
against the Sling adapter (formerly Slingbox) which allows consumers to stream
their TV signal to a laptop at a different location. This is a frontal assault
on home recording and fair use. Ordinary consumers are in its crosshairs, while
Fox demands technological stagnation from innovators.

In the suit, Fox says Dish does not have the right to
distribute Fox's programming over the Internet or to mobile devices.

"In filing this suit, Fox and the others are challenging
long-held consumer rights and going against longstanding consumer
practices," said Sohn. "Consumers have the right to control their TV
watching, using whatever technology is available to them. This is as true now
as it was in 1955 when advertisements for the Flash-Matic, one of the first remote
control devices, promised, ‘You can even shut off annoying commercials while
the picture remains on the screen.'"

Public Knowledge has also backed Aereo TV, which is also
being sued by broadcasters as an improper use of their broadcast content.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.