The Verge - CBS censors CNET over Dish Hopper award: the full storyhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52801/VER_Logomark_32x32..png2013-07-24T12:06:44-04:00http://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/36413032013-07-24T12:06:44-04:002013-07-24T12:06:44-04:00Judge denies Fox's request to shut down Dish Network's ad-skipping DVR
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<img alt="hopper logo ces 1020" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Z4ERUp7NH0uPuYBZynisKKEeQu4=/15x0:1004x659/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/969327/DSC_2929.jpg" />
<figcaption>hopper logo ces 1020</figcaption>
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<p>In a case that the country's largest TV broadcasters say is pivotal for their business, a federal appeals court denied Fox's request to shut down Dish Network's automated ad-skipping DVR service, according to a story in <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/fox-loses-appeal-asking-injunction-592413" target="new"><i>The Hollywood Reporter</i></a>.</p>
<p>Known as the "Hopper," the technology helps users not just fast forward past commercials but skip past them altogether. Fox and CBS sued, claiming that Dish's technology violated their copyrights. A district judge last year<a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/7/3615412/fox-dish-hopper-dvr-injunction-refusal"> refused to grant Fox's request</a> for an injunction and Fox appealed. </p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2013/7/24/4552918/judge-denies-foxs-request-to-shut-down-dish-networks-ad-skipping-dvr">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/7/24/4552918/judge-denies-foxs-request-to-shut-down-dish-networks-ad-skipping-dvrGreg Sandoval2013-02-22T11:55:03-05:002013-02-22T11:55:03-05:00Fox sues Dish again over the Hopper, this time over place-shifting, not ad-skipping
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<img alt="Dish Hopper With Sling" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v2ruONFOyibgf6dKs1_2fioUbHU=/0x0:1020x680/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/2217267/DSC_2630_verge_super_wide.jpg" />
<figcaption>Dish Hopper With Sling</figcaption>
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<p>News Corp.'s Fox Broadcasting unit, <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/7/3615412/fox-dish-hopper-dvr-injunction-refusal">rebuffed in earlier efforts</a> to block Dish's Hopper DVR for skipping commercials, now seeks an injunction to block the new <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/7/3846936/dish-hopper-with-sling-takes-on-tv-everywhere">Hopper with Sling</a> for delivering live and recorded TV to computers, phones, and tablets over the internet.</p>
<p>According to <em>Bloomberg</em>, <a target="new" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-22/fox-seeks-to-block-dish-tv-s-new-on-the-go-features.html">Fox sought a preliminary injunction yesterday in federal court in Los Angeles</a>, alleging the Hopper's Sling features breach Fox's license agreement with Dish and infringe the network's copyrights on its programming. <em>The Hollywood Reporter</em> notes that <a target="new" href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/fox-asks-judge-stop-dishs-423295">this is an amended version of Fox's earlier lawsuit against Dish</a> in the same court, with the same judge.</p>
<p>In its <a target="new" href="https://www.eff.org/sites/default/files/filenode/fox%20compaint.pdf">original complaint,</a> Fox attacked Dish's use of Sling:</p>
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<p>By making its bootleg,...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2013/2/22/4017526/fox-sues-dish-again-over-the-hopper-this-time-over-place-shifting-not">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/2/22/4017526/fox-sues-dish-again-over-the-hopper-this-time-over-place-shifting-notTim Carmody2013-01-31T13:30:09-05:002013-01-31T13:30:09-05:00CNET loses CES awards following Dish Hopper controversy; DVR named 'Best In Show'
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<img alt="Dish Hopper CES Award (STOCK)" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1cIMN7loZs94oVhV3P7w6tDRBVk=/0x0:1020x680/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/2036809/dish-hopper-ces-award1_1020.jpg" />
<figcaption>Dish Hopper CES Award (STOCK)</figcaption>
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<p>The Consumer Electronics Association has issued a <a href="http://www.cesweb.org/News/CES-Press-Releases/CES-Press-Release.aspx?NodeID=f6a52fe4-1e93-4108-a2de-6dfe11ede40a" target="new">press release awarding the Dish Hopper with Sling DVR the coveted "Best of Show" award at CES 2013</a>. As <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3874682/exclusive-cbs-forced-cnet-editors-to-recast-vote-after-hopper-win"><em>The Verge</em> reported</a> and <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3876320/cnet-editor-confirms-dish-hopper-was-best-of-ces"><em>CNET</em> later confirmed</a>, the Hopper had been voted to win CES's top award by the editors of <em>CNET</em>, before executives at <em>CNET's</em> parent company CBS vetoed the vote due to CBS's ongoing lawsuit against Dish.</p>
<p>Yesterday, CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro sharply criticized CBS's editorial interference with <em>CNET's</em> technology coverage in <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1514734&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fopinion%2F2013%2F01%2F30%2Fcbs-cnet-ces-hopper-sling%2F1877291%2F&referrer=theverge.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2013%2F1%2F31%2F3937476%2Fcnet-loses-ces-awards-following-dish-hopper-controversy-dvr-named" target="_blank" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener">an op-ed in <em>USA Today</em></a>, and announced the CEA would be "considering [its] legal options under [its] agreement with <em>CNET</em>." Today, the CEA officially ended <em>CNET's</em> role in choosing the Best of Show award at CES, and announced it would issue <a href="http://blog.ce.org/?p=14980" target="new">a...</a></p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/31/3937476/cnet-loses-ces-awards-following-dish-hopper-controversy-dvr-namedTim Carmody2013-01-26T00:05:20-05:002013-01-26T00:05:20-05:00CBS reportedly refuses to budge on no-reviews policy, sending morale at CNET 'plummeting'
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<img alt="CBS logo (STOCK)" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8U8YMgKV5AT9S1ZQzNksLqP0bCY=/3x0:1017x676/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/1153285/cbs-logo-stock_1020.jpg" />
<figcaption>CBS logo (STOCK)</figcaption>
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<p>Before an all-hands meeting with CBS corporate on Wednesday, <i>CNET</i> staffers reportedly believed that their parent company might reverse its policy banning reviews of the Hopper DVR and Aereo. Instead, as <a target="_blank" href="http://jimromenesko.com/2013/01/25/at-cnet-morale-is-plummeting-and-people-are-pissed-off/">Jim Romenesko reports</a>, CBS was adamant. Not only could CNET's reviews team not cover the Hopper DVR, reporters apparently could not write positively of the product at all.</p>
<p>This account appeared in media journalist Jim Romenesko's blog, supported by interviews of multiple <em>CNET</em> staffers. It suggests that <em>CNET</em> and its parent company are still at odds over what constitutes editorial interference. Problems that seem minor to CBS are major for <em>CNET</em>. It offers no resolution of the problematic <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3876270/dish-cnet-cbs-respond-best-of-ces-controversy-news-reviews/in/3641303">distinction between news and reviews that CBS is...</a></p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/26/3917172/cbs-reportedly-refuses-to-budge-on-no-reviews-policy-sending-morale">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/26/3917172/cbs-reportedly-refuses-to-budge-on-no-reviews-policy-sending-moraleDieter Bohn2013-01-25T13:28:28-05:002013-01-25T13:28:28-05:00CNET forbidden from reviewing Aereo following CBS-Dish controversy
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<img alt="Gallery Photo: Aereo hands-on pictures" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vW7DnFrR87EstelHgAY-Cc438gQ=/0x42:1020x722/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/1005526/IMG_0074-hero.jpg" />
<figcaption>Gallery Photo: Aereo hands-on pictures</figcaption>
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<p>This week, live-TV startup Aereo released an update to its Roku app, adding a new visual interface and enabling full control with the Roku remote. It's a relief to customers of both Roku and Aereo, who previously could only navigate the Aereo channel through an iOS app. But <em>CNET's</em> story on Aereo's update is more significant for what's built up around that small bit of news: an announcement that <em>CNET</em> is barred from reviewing Aereo and its products due to parent company CBS's lawsuit with Aereo.</p>
<p><em>CNET's</em> ban on Aereo reviews is not a surprise. Two weeks ago at CES, <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/10/3862558/cnet-parent-cbs-bans-coverage">CBS banned Dish from consideration for a <em>CNET</em> award</a> and future reviews coverage. <em>The Verge</em> later learned that <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3874682/exclusive-cbs-forced-cnet-editors-to-recast-vote-after-hopper-win/in/3641303">Dish's Hopper with Sling DVR had in fact won</a> <em>CNET's</em> award for Best...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/25/3915406/cnet-forbidden-reviewing-aereo-cbs-dish-controversy">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/25/3915406/cnet-forbidden-reviewing-aereo-cbs-dish-controversyTim Carmody2013-01-18T14:11:44-05:002013-01-18T14:11:44-05:00Dish gives Hopper the award denied to it by CBS
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<img alt="Dish Hopper CES Award (STOCK)" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1cIMN7loZs94oVhV3P7w6tDRBVk=/0x0:1020x680/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/2036809/dish-hopper-ces-award1_1020.jpg" />
<figcaption>Dish Hopper CES Award (STOCK)</figcaption>
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<p>Dish may have found itself on the wrong side of CNET's "Best of CES" award after parent company <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3874682/exclusive-cbs-forced-cnet-editors-to-recast-vote-after-hopper-win">CBS forced the editorial staff of the website to revote</a>, but that hasn't stopped Dish from making the most out of the controversy. The company originally <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/10/3862558/cnet-parent-cbs-bans-coverage/in/3641303">broke the news in a press release</a>, and now it has awarded itself the title that it had taken away. Dish's promotional site for the <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/7/3846936/dish-hopper-with-sling-takes-on-tv-everywhere">Hopper with Sling</a> says the set-top box was "named best in show" with a big, fat asterisk next to it. Here's what Dish has to say:</p>
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<p>*What's an asterisk doing in our award? CBS will go to any lengths to keep you from enjoying ad-skipping technology – even censoring its own writers and throwing out their decision to name Hopper 'Best In Show.' Your vote is the only...</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/18/3891316/dish-gives-hopper-the-ces-award-denied-to-it-by-cbsDante D'Orazio2013-01-14T18:05:38-05:002013-01-14T18:05:38-05:00CBS says it won't interfere in CNET's 'actual news,' just reviews
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<img alt="Dish CES 2013 stock 1020" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2DNZM_SnG48ezB93ZbLO1VjIz_Q=/0x0:1020x680/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/2002693/20130110-625A1517VERGE.jpg" />
<figcaption>Dish CES 2013 stock 1020</figcaption>
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<p>Are news and reviews subject to different ethical standards? That appears to be the message from CBS in response to Dish's controversial Hopper DVR. Official CBS policy now bans <i>CNET</i> from reviewing products implicated in lawsuits, but claims <em>CNET</em> still has complete editorial independence over "actual news."</p>
<p>On Monday, <a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/resignation-suggests-rift-between-cnet-and-cbs/" target="new">CBS issued a statement</a> to the <em>New York Times</em> calling the ban on the Hopper "an isolated and unique incident in which a product that has been challenged as illegal." A spokesperson noted that not only CBS but other media companies had brought suit against Dish. "CBS has nothing but the highest regard for the editors and writers at <em>CNET</em>… and, in terms of covering actual news, <em>CNET</em> maintains 100% editorial independence, and...</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3876270/dish-cnet-cbs-respond-best-of-ces-controversy-news-reviewsTim Carmody2013-01-14T15:28:35-05:002013-01-14T15:28:35-05:00CNET confirms that Dish Hopper was chosen as 'Best of CES' before CBS vetoed the decision
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<img alt="Gallery Photo: Dish Hopper with Sling and Dish Anywhere app hands-on pictures" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y2ogkrocIdu5j6sN-zp0TeXd86E=/0x0:1020x680/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/1972681/DSC_2680.jpg" />
<figcaption>Gallery Photo: Dish Hopper with Sling and Dish Anywhere app hands-on pictures</figcaption>
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<p><i>CNET</i> has confirmed what we <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3874682/exclusive-cbs-forced-cnet-editors-to-recast-vote-after-hopper-win">reported this morning</a>: the commercial-skipping Dish Hopper had been chosen for its "Best of CES" award before being overruled by parent company CBS. In a post, <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-30677_3-57563877-244/the-2013-best-of-ces-awards-cnets-story/" target="_blank">Editor-in-Chief of Reviews Lindsey Turrentine describes</a> the site's battle over the Hopper, which is the subject of a lawsuit by CBS and other networks. The Hopper, she says, was chosen "because of innovative features that push shows recorded on DVR to iPads," but CBS vetoed both the original vote and a "transparent statement" about it.</p>
<p>Turrentine doesn't actually denounce the decision to strike the Hopper from awards and reviews, and she defends her decision to stay with the site, unlike <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/sandocnet/status/290856937472528384">reporter Greg Sandoval</a>, who resigned over the decision....</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3876320/cnet-editor-confirms-dish-hopper-was-best-of-ces">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3876320/cnet-editor-confirms-dish-hopper-was-best-of-cesAdi Robertson