Lawsuit Route Proves Lucrative for TiVo{0}
Chapter 3 main topic is about the importance of internet to the success of new entering businesses. Many ebusinesses have emerged since the internet became available to the public, including Netflix, eBay, Amazon, Paypal, youtube, and TiVo Inc. However, I will focus on TiVo, the Alviso (CA)-based company creator of the DV recorders. TiVo’s success is the perfect example of disruptive technology. TiVo’s main rivals are cable companies such as Dish Network, AT&T and the world of television itself. What sets TiVo apart from all other VCRs or DVRs is that ability to find and record all your favorite shows, every time they are on, so viewers can watch them at their best convenience, all it takes is turning on the TV. Also, TiVo allows you to pause, rewind, fast-forward through commercials and record live TV. A TiVo box can be connected to the cable service or the internet service.
Although not many people knew about the existence of TiVo, little by little TiVo has become a more profitable and innovative organization; especially, after receiving $200 million in damages from a late 2008 lawsuit against EchoStar, Dish’s parent company. The grounds of the lawsuit were a patent violation.
According to BusinessWeek magazine on August 26, TiVo filed a lawsuit against AT&T and Verizon Communications for an alleged violation of three of its patents for time-sifting and other aspects of its DV recorder. TiVo’s patents are the comparative advantage over its rivals.
TiVo plans to expand by offering rating services to advertisers and broadcasters, including a blockbuster deal with Netflix to stream movies to Netflix subscribers who also own a TiVo.
I would enjoy watching shows and films on my television with no commercials and have the ability to pause and especially record at the same time. I would definitely buy one!
Grover, Ronald. (Sept 8, 2009). The Lawsuit Route Proves Lucrative for TiVo. BusinessWeek. Retrieved Sept. 9, 2009, from http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2009/tc2009098_760023.htm