Englewood, Colo. — Dish Network won another ruling Monday rejecting Fox Broadcasting’s complaint against its Hopper ad-skipping system.
The ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s September 2013 rejection of Fox’s attempt to prevent Dish subscribers from using ad-skipping features on Dish’s Hopper whole-home DVR platform, and from viewing Hopper recordings and other content on mobile devices using Dish’s Sling and Hopper Transfers technologies.
Dish executive VP and general counsel R. Stanton Dodge said Monday: “Today’s decision is the fifth in a string of victories for consumers related to our Hopper Whole-Home DVR platform. Dish is pleased that the court has sided again with consumer choice and control by rejecting Fox’s efforts to deny our customers access to the Dish Anywhere and Hopper Transfers features.”
Last year, the Ninth Circuit also rejected Fox’s arguments to block the AutoHop and PrimeTime Anytime features.
Dodge said: “We will continue to vigorously defend consumers’ right to choice and control over their viewing experience.”
Dish Anywhere, gives subscribers using Sling technology built into Dish’s Hopper with Sling whole-home DVR, the ability to remotely view a TV signal they receive in their home using a single Internet-connected device (mobile phone, tablet or PC).
Sling technology has been available since 2005 and Fox’s motion was the first to seek to enjoin it.
With the Hopper Transfers feature, a Dish customer can move or duplicate certain Hopper DVR recordings made by the customer to an iPad; unlike Dish Anywhere, no Internet connection is needed for viewing.
