Dish Was celebrating yet another court victory Monday after it said the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied a prelminary injunction to block the place-shifting functionality of its Hopper DVR, apparently concluding that if Dish was ultimately found to be out of line, compensation to Fox after that decision, rather than blocking the service in the meantime, was the way to go.
Fox is also trying to block the ad-skipping function of the Hopper, but back in February, it took a new tack by asking the California court to block Dish's Hopper DVR, this time not focusing on the ad-skipping function, but instead zeroing in on new iterations that stream and record programming for Internet, out-home viewing, which Fox says clearly violate Dish's contract with Fox, as well as copyright law.
"Today's decision is the fourth 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," the company said. "We will continue to vigorously defend consumers' right to choice and control over their viewing experience.”
"We have just received the ruling, and while the judge found that Fox could prevail at trial on the merits of the case, she did not grant our preliminary injunction," said Fox in a statement. "We disagree that the harms caused by Dish's infringing services are completely compensable by damages, and as a result we are looking at all options. We will file a response in due course."
A New York District judge on Sept. 19 decided not to block the ad-skipping function.
