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US: Hopper’s commercial-skipping services ruled legal in blow to broadcasting sector

By  |  July 29, 2013

A federal judge handed down a ruling Wednesday that said Dish Network’s Hopper service, which allows television viewers to watch recorded shows without commercials, does not infringe copyright law. The win for Dish is a fresh blow to the once-dominant television media sector, which profits from commercials, according to ex-senior antitrust official at the US Department of Justice Gene Kimmelman. The ruling is “another indication of the slow erosion of a dominant media company’s control over distribution of content,” he said. According to reports, the ruling likely means competitors that offer similar program-recording services will follow-suit and allow viewers to skip commercials altogether. The decision ends a lawsuit initiated by Fox Broadcasting, which argued the practice violates US copyright law; a lower court rejected the case, a decision backed Wednesday by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Judge Sidney Thomas emphasized in his ruling that viewers can do anything with their television content except resell it.

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