The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing for your right to record TV programs and skip the commercials. The online civil liberties group has filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles against more than two dozen entertainment companies on behalf of five consumers who own ReplayTV recorders, asking a judge to declare activities such as recording and fast-forwarding legal.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing for your right to record TV programs and skip the commercials.
The online civil liberties group has filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles against more than two dozen entertainment companies on behalf of five consumers who own ReplayTV recorders, asking a judge to declare activities such as recording and fast-forwarding legal.
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper issued an order Thursday allowing Craig Newmark, creator of San Francisco-based community Web site craigslist.org, and four other consumers to become a party to the suit. The ruling was a reversal from last week's tentative order, in which Cooper wrote that the case would likely resolve ``many, if not all'' of the issues consumers raise -- without their direct output. Cooper wrote that Santa Clara-based SonicBlue, maker of the ReplayTV 4000, will probably defend features of the device that allow users to skip commercials or send shows to friends, which forms the basis of a copyright infringement case brought in October by 28 Hollywood studios and television networks. Without consumer input, Cooper wrote, the case wouldn't necessarily resolve questions about whether specific uses -- such as transferring a TV show to a laptop to watch while traveling or using the commercial skip features to avoid exposing children to commercials -- constitutes a legally permissible ``fair use.''
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper issued an order Thursday allowing Craig Newmark, creator of San Francisco-based community Web site craigslist.org, and four other consumers to become a party to the suit.
The ruling was a reversal from last week's tentative order, in which Cooper wrote that the case would likely resolve ``many, if not all'' of the issues consumers raise -- without their direct output.
Cooper wrote that Santa Clara-based SonicBlue, maker of the ReplayTV 4000, will probably defend features of the device that allow users to skip commercials or send shows to friends, which forms the basis of a copyright infringement case brought in October by 28 Hollywood studios and television networks.
Without consumer input, Cooper wrote, the case wouldn't necessarily resolve questions about whether specific uses -- such as transferring a TV show to a laptop to watch while traveling or using the commercial skip features to avoid exposing children to commercials -- constitutes a legally permissible ``fair use.''
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