Gemstar loses patent battle over set-tops
Washington-A U.S. International Trade Commission judge Friday ruled that set-top makers Pioneer Corp., SCI Systems, Scientific-Atlanta and EchoStar did not infringe upon Gemstar-TV Guide’s patents when building set-top boxes that included their own interactive program guides. The judge also ruled that Gemstar misused one of its patents.
Appeals court upholds cross-ownership ban
Washington-A federal appeals court Friday upheld its decisions terminating the cable-broadcast cross-ownership ban and remanding the 35 percent broadcast ownership cap to the FCC for more justification.
FTC to issue new TV violence report
Washington-The Federal Trade Commission this week is expected to issue its fourth report in two years on the entertainment industry’s marketing of violent and raunchy content to children. A source said this newest report would continue to single out the music industry for not doing enough to shelter kids from violent material.
NAB says most affils will go digital by year-end
Washington-The National Association of Broadcasters assured the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday that most of the Big 4 network affiliates in the top 100 markets will satisfy an agency request that they pass network digital feeds to viewers by year-end.