TiVo Goes After Telcos

A lawsuit launched by TiVo claiming that Echostar better known Dish Network infringes on patented TiVo technology used in digital video recording devices has been winding its way through the court in the past couple of years. Now the company that sold first commercially successful DVR is sending the lawyers after America's two big Telcos because TiVo is making a similar claim that DVR's offered by AT&T as a part of their Uverse product and Verizon's Fios infringe on TiVo's patents.

If Dish Network's, AT&T's and Verizon's DVR's infringe on TiVo's patents' what about the other big Satellite carrier? DirecTV has been licensing TiVo's technology for years. Cable companies have been providing DVR's that are not licensed from TiVo for years so why is it that big cable hasn't been sued yet? TiVo already has a deal with Comcast to install TiVo's DVR software on the cable boxes owned and rented by Comcast subscribers. Because Comcast is so big in comparison to other American cable operators, TiVo will expect the rest of the American cable industry to fall like a house of cards and sign licensing agreements. This is not just about patent infringement, this is TiVo attempting to get on top of the DVR market and turn it into a monopoly.