EchoStar Ruling Being Worked On

[rtt2]

EchoStar Ruling Being Worked On
05/05/03 2:46PM

A U.S. District Court judge in Miami, who could terminate the local TV service of millions of EchoStar Communications customers, is working on his opinion.

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=story&doc_id=118503&display=breakingNews

I don't have a subscription so I can't post the rest of the story

[Jacob S]

This could hurt Echostar GREATLY and help Murdoch GREATLY! How come Dish and not DirecTv? Is it a punishment for providing locals when they were not supposed to or something and not going to be allowed to provide any at all? This would be really bad for Dish.

[John Hodgson]

Well rtt2, I DO have a subscription, but can't and won't post the article here because I choose to follow the "Users Agreement" As between you and Reed (including our affiliates), we are the owner and/or authorized user of any trademark, and/or service mark appearing on the Site, and are the copyright owner or licensee of the content and/or information on the Site, unless otherwise indicated. Except as otherwise provided herein, use of the Site does not grant to you a license to any content, features or materials you may access on the Site. Any commercial use of the Site is strictly prohibited, except as allowed herein or otherwise approved by us. You may not download or save a copy of any of the content or screens except as otherwise provided in these Terms and Conditions, for any purpose. You may, however, print one (1) copy of the information on the Site solely for your personal use or records. If you make other use of the Site, except as otherwise provided above, you may violate copyright and other laws of the United States, other countries, as well as applicable state laws and may be subject to liability for such unauthorized use. We do not grant any license or other authorization to any user of our trademarks, service marks, other copyrightable material or any other intellectual property, by including them on the Site. You also agree and acknowledge that any ideas, concepts, methods, systems, designs, plans, techniques or other similar materials that you submit or otherwise communicate to the Site, may be used by us in any manner.

[tammyandlee]

http://www.dbsforums.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004757;p=1


I think this link will explain everything

[Greg Bimson]

This already happened to DirecTV. Try doing a search on DirecTV and the date Feburary 28, 1999.

The networks had an injunction granted against DirecTV for this very subject. That is why the SHVIA included a grandfather clause, for the DirecTV viewers that lost their feeds due to the court order.

[Geronimo]

But you could synopsize it for us.

[Greg Bimson]

Just from memory:

DirecTV was ordered to cut-off all distant subs that received a City Grade, Grade A, or Grade B signal. The injunction was handed down by Judge Lenore Nesbitt on July 10, 1998, and didn't take effect until February 28, 1999.

About one million subs lost their network feeds. That was until the SHVIA was passed, which then restored service to only the Grade B subs that were cut-off, and grandfathered those subs, as well as any Grade B sub that had service as of October 31, 1999.

This lawsuit is practically the continuation of the same lawsuit. This originally started with a station in Miami suing PrimeTime 24 for providing distant networks to unqualified subscribers. It then ballooned to include DirecTV and Dish Network. Dish Network is the only provider left yet to go through the whole process.

[music_beans]

I am kind of confused on this matter. Does this have to do with DISTANT locals, or LOCAL locals? I don't want to lose 'em! :confused:

[RichW]

Who really knows. However, if the judge rules against local carriage, look for E* to appeal and for Congress to get involved.

The goal of the NAB is to whittle away at distant signal carriage, even in the so-called "white areas". This has been the case since SHVIA was passed. Only a public outcry will stop this slow erosion of distant network carriage.

[Greg Bimson]

It would probably only be for distant locals. However, it also depends on what the courts may be handcuffed with remedies prescribed by law.

No matter what the ruling is, the offended party will appeal immediately.