New York - A number of powerful telecom firms and technology trade groups have come to the aid of Cablevision, filing a brief in support of the company's appeal of a federal court ruling that prohibited it from launching a network-based digital video recorder (DVR).

A federal court agreed with Hollywood movie studios and TV networks, who sought an injunction against the device, arguing the sending of "recorded" programs to viewers by Cablevision constituted unauthorized retransmissions.

USTelecom, which represents AT&T and Verizon; the Electronic Frontier Foundation; the Consumer Electronics Association; and CTIA all signed the brief supporting Cablevision's network DVR concept, which would store a viewer's "recorded" programs on company servers rather than on a hard drive found on a device in viewers' homes, a la TiVo.

"Network-based services may prove to be both cheaper and technologically superior, providing better service at reduced costs to consumers," the groups wrote, in their brief supporting Cablevision's appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Manhattan.

"But these benefits that many consumers now take for granted could disappear if this District Court decision is not overturned or significantly revised."

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2pvpp6 (Reuters)

http://tinyurl.com/2qdc6n (USTelecom brief)

http://tinyurl.com/2mlbvr (DMW previous coverage)

http://www.cablevision.com