FTC May Get Involved In Patent Dispute Over Digital TV

from the monopoly-corrupts dept

Back in February we wrote about a patent holding firm called Rembrandt (a nod, I'm sure, to the book "Rembrandts in the Attic," which many say kicked off this decade's patent problems) that was suing basically everyone in the TV business, claiming to hold patents on digital television. This was problematic for a few reasons. First, since the FCC is mandating that everyone switch to fully digital TV systems by next year, broadcasters have little choice but to offer digital TV. Second, Rembrandt bought the patent from AT&T who had already promised to license it under RAND (reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms which Rembrandt is ignoring. Since the FTC recently smacked down another patent holder for doing the same thing, an advocacy group is now appealing to the FTC to smack down Rembrandt as well, claiming that the company is "violating antitrust and fair competition laws by abusing the monopoly provided by its patent" in order to collect "a massive tax... on the transition to digital TV." Indeed.

Filed Under: digital tv, ftc, licensing, patents, rand
Companies: rembrandt

Patent Hoarder Going After Cable Companies, TV Broadcasters

from the anyone-and-everyone dept

Here we go with yet another ridiculous patent hoarding company trying to sue anyone and everyone. This time, it's Rembrandt IP, a company that we recently wrote about for gaming the new MercExchange injunction rules. It did so by getting two competitors to fight against each other, allowing only one to license the patent, which the "winner" could then use to force an injunction against the other one (basically, suing two competitors and telling whichever one caved first that it could help put the other out of business). A few weeks back, it unfortunately won that case, and is now gearing up to use the winnings as it claims patents on both the digital TV broadcasting standard and the widely used cable modem standard, DOCSIS. In both cases, it's asking for huge licensing fees. On the broadcasting standard, it may have a tough battle, as it appears that Rembrandt is doing the same thing that the FTC just smacked down another company for doing: basically buying up a patent and then ignoring an earlier agreement on how that patent would be used. In this case, Rembrandt is trying to ignore the fact that AT&T (who originally held the patent) promised to license it for "Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory" (RAND) rates. Either way, though, this is yet another unfortunate example of a hedge fund-backed patent hoarder trying to exploit the system, rather than doing anything to "promote the progress."

Filed Under: cable modems, digital tv, docsis, patents
Companies: rembrandt ip

Why Is Kevin Martin Advertising The DTV Switch On Dish Network?

from the confusion-reigns dept

Last week, we noted that the GAO was concerned that the FCC didn't have plans in place to educate consumers about the switch from analog TV to digital TV, set to take place in February of 2009. Kevin Martin and the FCC shot back that the GAO was incorrect, and it has an education campaign well planned out. It would appear that's true, but that campaign is already raising some controversy. Reader MaxB312 writes in to point us to a Public Service Announcement that Martin himself filmed for Dish Network: As the summary of the video makes clear, some people are interpreting this commercial to be a sly way of suggesting that those who have analog TV should just sign up for Dish rather than getting a converter. Martin makes it clear that Dish Network subscribers have nothing to worry about, since this only impacts free over-the-air (FOTA) TV, and then says "but if your TV has rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna, you'll need a satellite box or a converter box." The problem is that you really only "need" a converter box -- not satellite. A satellite box would get you entirely beyond the issue of FOTA TV. Of course, so would a cable service -- which Martin doesn't mention at all. No wonder, since he apparently has it in for cable companies. While I don't necessarily buy the conspiracy theory that this is an attempt to help out satellite providers, it does raise an important question: why is the FCC advertising this to people for whom it won't matter? Why would the FCC put PSAs on either satellite or cable TV offerings when the switch doesn't impact those people at all? Perhaps the GAO's real complaint wasn't that the FCC didn't have a plan on how to educate people -- but that the plan consisted of educating the wrong group of people. Update: Well that answers that. As a bunch of folks noted in the comments, it's mainly targeted at rural areas where the broadcast OTA stations aren't all available via Dish.

Filed Under: converters, digital tv, fcc
Companies: dish network, echostar

Can The FCC Actually Manage The Switch To Digital TV?

from the one-would-hope dept

The debate over the shift from analog over-the-air TV to digital over-the-air TV has gone on for ages, but it's finally (fingers crossed) going to happen in 2009. This is important because it will free up a ton of useful spectrum that could be put to much better use. Even if it ends up costing billions, the overall benefit will certainly outweigh the cost of subsidized TV converters. Remember, that the transition really only impacts those who use over-the-air TV signals -- meaning those of you with cable or satellite or IPTV are basically unaffected by this move. Still, there are likely to be problems. The Government Accountability Office, one of the few government agencies who you can actually trust to be pretty honest in its assessment of things, is now warning that the FCC isn't prepared for the switch, noting that it doesn't seem to have much of a plan to educate people about the switch. The FCC claims that isn't the case at all (its response was apparently longer than the initial GAO report itself). And, perhaps the timing is a coincidence (somehow I doubt it), but right after the news of the GAO report came out, so did press reports about major retailers starting to stock up on converters. So, perhaps there is a plan after all...

Filed Under: converters, digital tv, fcc, gao