Network DVR
Overview
Remote Storage Digital Video Recorder (RS-DVR), or network-DVR (nDVR), is a network-based digital video recorder (DVR) stored at the provider's central office rather than at the consumer's private home. Traditionally, the programming was stored in the subscriber's set-top box hard drive, but with RS-DVRs the cable provider owns a large number of servers, on which the subscriber's programming is stored. The RS-DVR has been chiefly developed by Cablevision.
Cablevision litigation
After announcing the RS-DVR in March 2006, several content providers including 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, and Walt Disney sued Cablevision in federal district court. The content providers sought a permanent injunction that would effectively prevent Cablevision from implementing the system. The content providers prevailed at the district court level, and Cablevision appealed. On August 5, 2008, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court decision that found the use of RS-DVRs in violation of copyright law.[1] It agreed with Cablevision's argument that a RS-DVR should be treated essentially the same as a customer owned DVR. Only the location of the DVR really differs.[2]
Future of RS-DVRs
With the legality of the system settled in the Cablevision litigation, the future is bright for RS-DVR systems. Many major cable companies are expected to implement their own RS-DVR systems, as RS-DVRs allow wider access to DVRs at a lesser cost to subscribers and innovative new methods of advertising that appeal to advertisers.
See Also
References
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