The company’s ReplayTV 4000 product is a digital video recorder
that works with a user’s broadband internet connection. This is
part of the product’s description: “share video with friends over
the internet, stream video room-to-room over your home network,
choose to automatically skip the commercials while watching
recorded shows.”
The company has said that, while its contract with users gives
it the right to monitor use, it chooses not to. The company was
sued by media giants including Disney, Paramount, Universal, MGM,
CBS, ABC and NBC. To establish a copyright infringement case
against the company, they argue that they need the usage data, such
as the commercials skipped or the files transferred on-line.
Earlier this month, a court ordered SONICblue to monitor user
activities and provide the data. The company described the ruling
as “breathtaking and unprecedented” and a violation of consumers’
privacy rights. Disney retaliated: “None of the data [we] are
seeking identifies any individuals… we are simply protecting our
copyrighted content and all whose livelihoods are dependent on
it.”
SONICblue yesterday asked a court to overturn the order, saying
“the information that has been ordered to be collected and
disclosed... is at the core of consumers’ expectations of privacy.”
If its attempt fails, the company will be forced to develop and
implement monitoring software.
