Tech Shout!

Cablevision, a cable television company serving parts of the Northeast of U.S., has been dragged to court on Wednesday by four Hollywood studios and the three renowned television networks, on accusations of being involved in copyright infringement through its planned on-demand service that would basically replace the set-top digital video recorder.

The offering would enable subscribers to store and playback television off of Cablevision’s servers. While personal copying has long been ruled legal, opponents of the new service say the cable provider is recording and retransmitting programming without the necessary license.

Filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the suit seeks an order that would prevent Cablevision from releasing the service. Other companies that

are considering offering similar services are keeping a close eye on the suit before being verbal about their own plans.

Industry officials say the problem is not the time-shifting aspect of any DVR service, but the way that Cablevision would market it. Since the provider is a for-profit entity, it cannot charge for on-demand access to programming without licenses.

Cablevision disagrees with that opinion. It claims the service is more like a TiVo, because it is not recording all programming, just those selected by individual users. The only difference is that content is stored remotely, not on a hard drive in a DVR.

Each subscriber would also be given separate space for their content only.

No timetable for launch of the network based DVR has been provided for the service; however, the offering may be delayed until the lawsuit is settled. Cablevision also offers high-speed Internet connections, as well as digital cable and VOIP phone service through its Optimum brand name. Its main customer base is in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with as many as3 million customers in and around New York City.