Gigi Sohn Says Give Remote DVR A Chance

A Q&A with Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn. Public Knowledge has supported Cablevision's position in legal wrangling over the cable operator's plans to roll out a headend-based digital video recorder service. The US Supreme Court is awaiting advice from the solicitor general on whether or not to hear content creators' (studios and programmers) appeal of an earlier ruling that found Cablevision's plan to provide DVR functionality in centralized servers does not violate copying and performance restrictions in copyright law. The studios say that fundamentally distorts copyright law. Cablevision, meanwhile, has yet to roll out the service. PK wants the last decision to stand, enabling Cablevision to roll out the "cool, consumer-friendly technology" and reinforcing fair-use rights established in the Sony Betamax case over video cassette recording.