Court Rejects Studios and Networks’ Copyright Beef With Cloud-Storage DVRs

Waaay back in 2006, Cablevision planned to roll out a DVR which stored shows on Cablevision’s servers rather than on hard disk inside your set-top box. As they are wont to do, the studios and networks saw an opportunity to suck more revenue out of the system, citing obscure copyright conditions which call for fees when content is “retransmitted” in any way. Now, a judge has smacked down their suit to block remote-storage DVRs, meaning DVRs in the cloud could see the light of day after all.

Cablevision sees RS-DVRs as a way to reduce the price of service and offer more storage, and the option to expand your storage if you can’t bear to part with your saved seasons of Big Brother, seasons 20-26. I see a potential bandwidth problem considering how often my Time Warner on demand is “unavailable.” Either way never a terrible thing to see tech defeat ridiculous copyright haggling. [Reuters]