Australia - Channel 9 suing IceTV (1 Viewer)

[and-81]

Nothing will fuel the decline of the commercial networks in this country faster than their own efforts to resist the changing technological landscape.

It's the classic story, repeated throughout history, embrace change or get left behind.

Maybe channel Seven are starting to understand, time will tell. Nine seem to be in denial.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Anyone like to imigrate.

 

[dodo]

Anyone like to immigrate?

I think I'll put up with the lack of an EPG thanks...

 

[Marcusb]

Aaron, no need to apologise for your rant. I agree with you completely and I am sure most Australians would too.
The rest of the world can't possibly realise how bad the networks are treating us in Australia.

 

[SSSputnik]

That's only one of the reasons I hate Australian TV Broadcasters. Don't get me wrong, it's a big one, but here are some others ...

Way to go Aaron, agree wholeheartedly.
Commercial TV in Australia < Crap.

 

[ivars]

ICE TV ices Nine in court.

From www.crikey.com.au:

"The Nine Network (AKA The Titanic) has had another loss. Its attempts to monster Sydney based ICE TV over the latter's construction of an electronic program guide, have failed. In the Federal Court today Justice Annabelle Bennett ruled against Nine. Nine had accused ICE TV of breaching copyright by reproducing its TV schedules in electronic form. It claimed a further infringement because people can use digital recorders to make copies of TV programs. ICE TV disputed the claims. It says it puts together its program guide from publicly available information, writes its own program descriptions. ICE TV says it makes the software so people can record television programs, but says it's not responsible for people using PCs or digital recorders to make copies or skip the ads and that's the real issue.

Today, in Sydney, Justice Annabelle Bennett agreed that Nine owned the copyright to its program guide but dismissed Nine's claim on the basis that ICE TV "does not reproduce a substantial part of" Nine's guide. She agreed with ICE TV that its EPG was compiled independently and ordered Nine to pay ICE TV's costs.

That's another little financial headache the old Nine owners, the Packers, have handed the new owners, CVC. The irony is that Nine is now part of the TV industry’s FTA electronic program guide, which will allow anyone to access and record programs. The only proviso is that the DVR/PVR makers must (as FTA Australia says) comply with "base-level requirements designed to protect copyright, protect the integrity of the program information and facilitate collection of ratings information". That will force manufacturers to alter their machines for the Australian market and leave owners of current DVR/PVRs which don't meet these requirements, out in the cold."

 

[NickName]

That is excellent news!
I signed up with IceTV just so I could help them beat the b@stards...
Hopefully it is the beginning of the end of Australia's restrictive EPG access.