In a case that was heard a few weeks back cable operator Cablevision was stopped from using networked PVRs by a US court. It was unclear if Cablevision planned an appeal of the case. Now it turns out that it will go ahead with an appeal. Networked PVRs are a far cheaper alternative to customer based DVRs.
The ruling from a New York federal district court said that using a network PVR, a server in the network that stores programming, even when it only responds to a remote control in people’s homes, still violates the copyrights of studios. In essence the studios think it is the same as VoD, for which they want operators to pay for with a more expensive content license.
The company said that it still believes that remote storage DVR is permissible under US law, and that it will lower costs for all cable operators.