Fox has been fighting Dish Network in court trying to have the courts rule that Dish has to eliminate its PrimeTime Anytime and AutoHop features. Dish won in court the first time out with both features being ruled legal. Fox appealed that ruling and lost on appeal. Fox is back at it and appealed that second loss not long ago.
Dish has announced that Fox has lost its new appeal in courts again. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously denied Fox’s petition to hear the case against Dish again. The features at the heart of the case include PrimeTime Anytime, which automatically records all primetime shows from all four of the major networks with no input from the viewer.
The other feature that Fox wants banned is AutoHop. That feature allows Dish customers to choose to automatically remove all commercials form their shows when watched the day after they are recorded. With that feature you only see the first few seconds of the first commercial and then the last few seconds of the final commercial and you never have to fast forward.
DISH Executive Vice President and General Counsel, R. Stanton Dodge said, “With this decision, the Court continues to reject Fox’s efforts to deny our customers’ access to PrimeTime Anytime and AutoHop — key features of the Hopper Whole-Home HD DVR.
“This is a victory for American consumers, and we are proud to have stood by their side in this important fight over the fundamental rights of consumer choice and control.”