Viacom's CBS, Disney's ABC, General Electric's NBC and other media companies
are planning to sue personal video recorder maker Replay TV for copyright
infringement.
Insiders say the major media companies are putting the final touches on the
multi-million dollar suit that will be filed in a Los Angeles courtroom by
week's end.
The companies are said to be threatened by Replay TV's 'commercial advance'
button that allows viewers to 'all but eliminate' ads by quickly skipping
through them when playing back a program.
The companies are also worried that Replay's newest model is designed to
allow users to share video over computer networks or the Internet.
Ailing Replay was sold by a group of media companies to computer accessory
maker SonicBlue earlier this year.
ABC, CBS and NBC spokesmen all had no comment. - Joe Schlosser
