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'Significant' court ruling clears the way for ad skipping streamed TV

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By Steven Raeburn, N/A

July 25, 2013 | 3 min read

The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a judgement which refuses a request to outlaw software which prevents pop up ads appearing on downloaded streamed TV.

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The action appears to clear the way for software which permits viewers to skip the ads.

The action was brought by Fox Broadcasting, who sought an injunction against use of the Dish Network’s Dish Hopper set-top box.

The lower court had already refused the injunction, and Wednesday’s ruling affirms that decision.

Salon.com said the case had “long-term ramifications for TV watchers.”

“CBS, along with Fox and two other television networks, believe that Dish Hopper’s ability to record huge swathes of prime-time programming and then automatically enable viewers to skip ads when watching programs breaks both copyright law and the terms of Dish’s contracts with the TV networks,” it reported.

James Grimmelman, professor of law at the University of Maryland said the ruling was “fairly significant.”

“It provides a firmer legal footing for technologies people already assume are legal, like DVRs,” he said.

“But it also does two things that I expect lots of Silicon Valley companies to be paying close attention to.

“First, it says that ad-skipping doesn’t count in the fair use analysis if the consumer’s purpose is otherwise legal.

“So this is a green light for other consumer-controlled ad-skipping and ad-blocking technologies. That could be important on the Web.

“And second, it blessed mass recording: Consumers can profligately record media they have access to, rather than needing to pick and choose each specific program.”

TV Remote Control image via Shutterstock

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