TV Networks Sue Dish Network

[Star Cluster]

And while I understand this is for the big networks (see local tv) maybe someone who is older than me can help me out here.  Didn't at one point maybe late 80s, when cable tv was brand new there wasn't any commercials then either right?  So wouldn't this be like going back to the 80s style tv watching should Dish Network get to keep their skipping DVR?

Actually, cable has been around for a while longer than that.  My wife and I had cable in our first apartment when we got married in '77.  But the only stations that were "commercial-free," even then, were the premium channels.  The only thing that has really changed since then is the number of stations available.

That aside, this is as monumentally stupid as it can get.  Even if they invoke Freedom of Speech, that won't hold up.  Sure, everyone has the freedom to speak in the US, but that doesn't mean they have the right to be heard.  So while the sponsor have the right to advertise their products, they don't have the right to make me watch them.  While I don't have Dish (or cable anymore for that matter,) I do have a DVR and I will continue to skip the commercials when viewing a recorded program.  Fuck 'em if they don't like it. 

[N. De Plume]

I rather wonder if magazines will be looking for a way to get in on this so people don’t just flip past the full-page ads.

[Flutters]

Okay, I'm reading this and I'm honestly perplexed~  Copyright law has to do with whom has what ownership of what creative work or intellectual property~  It has absolutely nothing to do with skipping commercials~  This is a matter of commerce, but considering the Supreme Court of the United States decided that corporations are protected--collectively--under the First Amendment, I guess just about anything is possible...~  Copyright laws are old and outdated to begin with and they really ought to be gone--or replaced--in today's day and age of sharing media, but this is just ludicrous...~

What really frightens me is that the United States has a way of doing what is in the interest of "special interest groups" such as large corporations, old American political dynasties or huge lobbying firms that buy their way into the government policy workings~  I'm worried this may actually pass somehow...~

[N. De Plume]

What really frightens me is that the United States has a way of doing what is in the interest of "special interest groups" such as large corporations, old American political dynasties or huge lobbying firms that buy their way into the government policy workings~  I'm worried this may actually pass somehow...~

To make matters worst, a lot of these groups are so pissed-their-pants frightened of whatever the latest paradigm shift is that they refuse to see the easy ways to capitalize on whatever change they are fighting and that it would therefore be in their best interest to just let the change freakin’ happen. They gotta stick with their old, proven dinosaur method.