Reply #62: I agree with this...

[cascadiance]

I would hope that Tivo has some conditions in NewsCorp contract that doesn't let them totally get screwed by NDS.

I guess as an investor in TIVO, one has to ask the company if they are more about protecting IP and licensing their technology, or about selling product. That's a fundamental question to ask as they get more litigious and direct their litigation towards certain entities over others. If they want to be primarily an IP licensing house, then perhaps they should spin that part off from the TIVO product manufacturing business, and have that company deal with companies like NDS, DirectTV, Comcast, and Echostar. Then the DVR business will have to prove itself in terms of providing products that people want, and not just use lawyers to shut down others. Having a separate company handling licensing would make it a lot more conducive for companies like Echostar to do business with them, when they don't feel that they are doing a deal with the devil that already perhaps has half of the DVRs that DirecTV sells.

I would assume that the royalty fee gets rolled into my monthly service, though with the model 721 receiver, I OWN it and don't pay rental fees for it like other DVRS Dish Network provides its customers. I'd like to think that I don't pay any more in royalty fees that DirecTV customers do, and I hope that Echostar could negotiate that. Also, once that deal is signed, perhaps Dish Network could offer more enhancements to newer DVRs that people might want to upgrade to without worrying about infringing on patents.