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- Just found this on Bloomberg.com
CBS, ABC, Fox Sue Hang 10 Over TV for Mobile Devices (Update3)
Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A By David Voreacos and Susan Decker
Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- CBS Corp.,Walt Disney Co.’s ABC and News Corp.’s Fox television networks sued a New Jersey company they claim is illegally retransmitting New York broadcast TV shows to mobile devices for paying subscribers.
Hang 10 Technologies Inc.’s VuiVision Retransmission Service sends copyrighted programming from New York City TV stations to subscribers paying $2.99 a month, according to the complaint in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey. Hang 10 and owner Daniel Gallic have no license for the service, according to the Dec. 8 complaint.
Hang 10, based at Gallic’s address in Warren, New Jersey, falsely claims it has a relationship with the TV networks, defrauds consumers and violates copyright law, according to the complaint, in which the networks seek an order barring the service.
The company is “brazenly offering the same type of unauthorized broadcast retransmission service that repeatedly has been considered unlawful,” according to the complaint. “Absolutely none of defendants’ revenues from that service go to the owners of the programming that defendants exploit.”
Hang 10 is illegally retransmitting programming from WABC- TV, WCBS-TV and Fox’s WNYW, according to the complaint. Disney is the world’s biggest media company, and CBS owns the most- watched television network.
Phone numbers for Hang 10 and Gallic couldn’t be located. Gallic, in an e-mail response to a request for comment, didn’t address the substance of the complaint.
New Phase
VuiVision isn’t available until Dec. 14 as it is “entering a new phase in our beta testing which requires a number of new services to be installed,” according to the Web site.
The television networks have their own Web sites, such as Hulu.com and Fancast, which post full-length episodes of shows and movies, in an effort to counter illegal downloading. The Motion Picture Association of America, the trade group for the movie industry, provides a list of sites to find movies and TV shows online legally.
“Protecting the exclusivity of broadcast programming is essential to our business model,” said Dennis Wharton, spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington.
The broadcasters do not know how Hang 10 receives the programming, “whether off-the-air or via subscription to a cable or satellite service,” according to the complaint. Gallic has claimed that his mobile device gets programming 17 seconds after it appears on a conventional TV set, the complaint says.
Courtesy Contact
Hang 10 began “alpha testing” of the service in July and contacted Fox in October, seeking permission “as a courtesy” to use the network’s programming, according to the complaint.
“Fox informed defendants they had no authority to use Fox programming as part of that service,” according to the complaint.
Hang 10 then began “beta testing” and charging a monthly fee in November, according to the complaint.
“In response to questions by potential and actual subscribers about the legality of the VuiVision Retransmission Service, defendants have falsely claimed that the service is ‘legal,’” according to the broadcasters.
In a Dec. 4 letter, the broadcasters told Hang 10 to stop or it would be subject to willful copyright infringement, according to the complaint. Hang 10 responded that it is entitled to operate the service without consent and would restart it unless the stations “agreed to certain conditions,” the complaint said, without providing details.
Like Home
The service “allows mobile phone users to view the same content they enjoy in their homes,” according to the company’s Web site.
“Watch TV on your cell phone,” the Web site claims. “No apps, No software, No problems!”
The service works on “most video-enabled phones,” including BlackBerrys made by Research in Motion Ltd., it claims. Apple’s iPhone won’t allow it because it doesn’t stream video, the site claims.
The case is American Broadcasting Companies v. Hang 10 Technologies, 09-cv-6216, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, (Trenton).
To contact the reporters on this story: David Voreacos in Newark, New Jersey, at [email protected]; Susan Decker in Washington at [email protected].
Last Updated: December 10, 2009 17:33 EST12-11-09 10:27 AMLike 0 - From the complaint:
"2. In the Copyright Act of 1976, Congress made clear that commercial
entrepreneurs, like the defendants here, may not retransmit to paying subscribers the
programming broadcast by conventional �over-the-air� television stations -- unless they are
authorized to do so by the affected copyright owners."
Note the phrase "to paying subscribers."12-11-09 10:42 AMLike 0 -
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- It would be nice if Hulu or someone else would make tv shows / live tv for BB's
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com12-11-09 12:42 PMLike 0 - I'm waiting till the 14th then go from there....
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com12-11-09 02:14 PMLike 0 - Well let's not jump to any conclusions! The consumers aren't doing anything illegal. In fact, I think everyone here has been terribly harmed by vuivision. In fact, if CBS, Disney, etc. had done more due diligence and put vuivision out of business sooner, this harm may never have happened. And since I *am* a lawyer I think y'all should hire me to sue all of them! You've got a great chance, I'll just need a $20,000 retainer up front. You're bound to win $zillions at trial!!!
PM me for my paypal address.12-12-09 05:45 AMLike 0 -
- Just requested my refund too...disappointed. I dropped my tv service several months ago and was using Vuivision when I needed that tv fix...if a small company can do something like this why cannot some provider offer the same type of streaming?
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com12-14-09 10:10 AMLike 0
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TV on your bb: VuiVision
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