Barry Willis

Cable companies may be the accidental beneficiaries of the recently announced EchoStar-DirecTV deal, in which smaller direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service <A HREF="http://www.echostar.com">EchoStar</A> won approval from General Motors to buy its subsidiary Hughes Electronics Corporation, operator of <A HREF="http://www.directv.com">DirecTV</A>.

Expressing fear that consumers' fair use rights will be eroded, the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) has weighed in on a recent copyright infringement <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?1144">lawsuit</A> brought against <A HREF="http://www.sonicblue.com">SonicBlue, Inc.</A> by a triumvirate of companies from the entertainment industry. At issue is the ability of SonicBlue's latest hard-disk video recorder to skip commercials and transmit recorded programs.

<A HREF="http://www.sonicblue.com">SonicBlue, Inc.</A> has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over its new ReplayTV 4000. The device is a personal video recorder (PVR) that allows users to skip past commercials and send copies of recorded television programs over the Internet to other Replay-equipped viewers. The Silicon Valley company plans to introduce the ReplayTV 4000 early in November.

Bandwidth limitations have long been a primary obstacle to transmitting broadcast-quality video over the Internet. Even digital subscriber lines (DSL), so useful for quick access to text and graphics, are typically capable of quality video over short distances only.