Echostar Responds to Copyright Suit Filed by Broadcast Networks
November 11, 1998 11:18 AM
LITTLETON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 1998--EchoStar Communications Corporation DISH today reiterated that it will continue to vigorously prosecute the suit it filed in Colorado Federal Court last month to protect the rights of Americans to receive crucial network programming by satellite as an alternative to rising cable rates and poor customer service.
"The suit, filed against EchoStar in Miami on Friday, Nov. 6 by network broadcasters, raises no new issues and is nothing more than transparent forum shopping. Neither the plaintiffs nor the defendants are based in Miami," noted EchoStar Senior Vice President and General Counsel David Moskowitz. "This is a blatant attempt on the part of the broadcasters to hinder a fair judicial process. Broadcasters fear the ruling will go against them in Colorado where consumers know from experience that trees and mountains affect the quality of off-air broadcast signals. The broadcasters simply want the issue to be considered in Miami, one of the flattest pieces of ground in the United States," Moskowitz added.
Consumers who live in areas that don't get a Grade B signal from their local network are entitled, under Section 119 of the Satellite Home Viewer Act (SHVA), to receive non-local network channels by satellite. EchoStar's Denver lawsuit notes that broadcasters claim that Grade B intensity and consumer eligibility should be predicted using a flawed radio wave propagation model called Longley-Rice version 1.2.2.
"The Longley-Rice model advocated by broadcasters shows over-the-air network signals bouncing over 14-thousand-foot mountains and through the nearly two-mile-long Eisenhower Tunnel. This is absurd and unrealistic," Moskowitz said. Use of this Longley-Rice model results in disenfranchisement of the rights of millions of consumers to receive network programming by satellite. EchoStar has asked the Court in Denver to endorse a more accurate signal measurement model that protects the rights of broadcasters, consumers and satellite providers alike.
"EchoStar is also asking in its suit for some consistency given that two judges in two different federal courts have established two different standards for compliance," Moskowitz said.
"We want consumers to receive the best signal possible from their network stations all of the time, not fuzzy pictures half the time," added Charlie Ergen, CEO and chairman of EchoStar.
EchoStar noted that it has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Congress to assist in this process as well, and that the FCC is expected to provide its perspective by February 1999.
EchoStar Communications Corp., includes three interrelated business units:
-- DISH Network(TM), EchoStar's state-of-the-art DBS system that offers customers over 300 channels of digital video and CD-quality audio programming, fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant hardware, installation, financing and leasing.
-- EchoStar Technologies Corporation (ETC, formerly HTSTM - Houston Tracker Systems, Inc.), designs, manufactures and distributes DBS set-top boxes, antennae and other digital equipment for the DISH Network and various international customers that include ExpressVu Canada and Telefonica's Via Digital system in Spain. ETC also provides uplink center design, construction oversight and project integration services for customers internationally.
-- Satellite Services provides the delivery of video, audio and data services to business television customers and other satellite users. These services include satellite uplink, satellite transponder space usage, and other services.
The DISH Network currently serves over 1.7 million customers. DISH Network is a trademark of EchoStar Communications Corporation. HTS is a trademark of Houston Tracker Systems, Inc. DISH Network is located on the Internet at: dishnetwork.com
|
