Dish Sues Networks, Fox Sues Dish Over Ad-Skipping Auto Hop

Dish sued the big four television networks over its new ad-skipping Auto Hop feature, even as Fox filed the first network lawsuit to stop Dish from offering the technology. Dish sought a federal court's "declaratory judgment on questions" related to Auto Hop, which allows viewers to skip commercials when they watch previously aired shows. Fox, meanwhile, accused Dish of copyright violations.

The lawsuits could be the first of many. Dish said in its filing that it was suing because "the Major Television Networks have threatened it with litigation" intended to stifle Auto Hop, which it debuted May 10. Fox made good on that threat. "We were given no choice but to file suit against one of our largest distributors, Dish Network, because of their surprising move to market a product with the clear goal of violating copyrights and destroying the fundamental underpinnings of the broadcast television ecosystem," Fox said in a statement. "Their wrongheaded decision requires us to take swift action in order to aggressively defend the future of free, over-the-air television." Dish sued Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York. Fox sued Dish in the Central District of California.