Monday, May 1, 2006
Slingbox About to get Blasted by Lawsuits?
Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 08:00 AM
"Hollywood is not happy about the SlingBox, and that displeasure is becoming increasingly visible. The SlingBox is a device that "place-shifts" your television programming by streaming it across the Internet for remote viewing on a laptop or portable device, but the ability to watch your TV anywhere in the world is making some broadcasters nervous. HBO's Bob Zitter was the latest in a long line of television executives to make ominous rumbling noises about the legality of the new technology. No one has yet come out of the litigation closet to announce plans to sue the new company, but plenty of people are willing to question Sling's business model. Is this just FUD on the part of content owners, or does it have some basis in law? Sling, after all, has claimed repeatedly that it believes its system to be legal because it simply allows a consumer to watch their existing television channels on the road. A SlingBox does not broadcast to multiple users, and it does not record or archive video for later use."
I can't say this surprises me, but it's pretty sad to see nonetheless - the Slingbox is probably one of the least objectionable technologies of this type from the broadcasters point of view because it doesn't allow recording (or commercial skipping), but in typical fashion their response is to sue. You may want to =page,1891,1"]buy your Slingbox now. ;-)
I can't say this surprises me, but it's pretty sad to see nonetheless - the Slingbox is probably one of the least objectionable technologies of this type from the broadcasters point of view because it doesn't allow recording (or commercial skipping), but in typical fashion their response is to sue. You may want to =page,1891,1"]buy your Slingbox now. ;-)
