14 DAY TRIAL // What appeared to be a godsend to TV watchers turned into the perfect lawsuit bait, but the company getting flack for a convenient feature is not about to go down easily.
Some people probably know that, in a somewhat absurd turn of events, a TV service provider got sued for making a consumer dream come true.
Dish Network has a certain DVR called Hopper. The name comes from the Auto-Hop feature, which automatically skips commercials aired during shows broadcasted by ABC, Fox, CBS and NBC.
It didn't take NBC and the others too many days to slam Dish with a lawsuit, saying that Dish is “stealing [...] broadcast programming” and “is undermining legitimate consumer choice by undercutting authorized on-demand services.”
The Chairman of Dish Network, Charlie Ergen, has finally gone on record, saying that he doesn't plan to let this whole mess spoil what Auto Hop is all about.
He argued, among other things, that the feature was a “competitively necessary” response to cheap online video.