Man Sues Time Warner

[Kenoman]

Boy, this will be interesting to see the outcome.

http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/745876.html

[RLJSlick]

That's great!!!! IT would be great if TWC was force to allow purchased boxes to be used. That's total BS forcing someone to rent a box. Didn't AT&T get in  trouble with phones that way many moons ago?

[Jack 1000]

That's good, but a Navigator lawsuit would be even better!  

Jack

[basshive]

I actually oppose this lawsuit and think its just another waste of our $.  I hate twc but by the same token I believe when you receive service from a provider they should have the right to ensure that the cpe is their own. Would it be nice to use our own? sure.. I think it would be awesome because I pay for all my D* boxes as well. It would also add complexity 100 fold and frankly twc can barely manage with their known hardware. You do not OWN your twc service, you lease it. Do you lease a ford and then expect them to make it work with a saturn engine because you like the saturn engine or you own one already??

The article is pretty weak too as it says :

He'd rather buy one from a manufacturer of his own choosing.

then goes on to say :

"I think that for most people, if they could buy the box, they would,"

So is he expecting to buy one that twc does not offer, buy one twc does offer, both? If he is only asking to buy one that twc offers, that would be great but you cannot sue them for making you rent it. Hell lets sue every provider in the country! It was a conscious decision to use them as his tv provider..

Just stupid.

[Bebop]

DirecTV doesn't allow ownership of the box either, but the dish is yours to keep if one decided to cancel.

[basshive]

Correct, when I said I pay for my D boxes I meant that I pay a monthly fee to lease them.

Hrmm... if only I could drive around collecting the dishes and then resell them

[Talos4]

Correct, when I said I pay for my D boxes I meant that I pay a monthly fee to lease them.

Hrmm... if only I could drive around collecting the dishes and then resell them

You can have my old AT-9. It's just taking up space in my garage until I can get it to the dump.

As the former Waukesha county DA told me once... $67.50 buys you a lawsuit.

If by some wierd circumstance he happens to win this case (which I highly doubt) it would create chaos within the Cable and DBS industry.

Dish customer's would want thier DVR's to work with D* and vice versa.

A win could also have a bigger and more devastating effect than on just the cable/DBS industry,

Proprietary technology in ANY industry would be affected.  Competition would go away. Better mouse traps would be a thing of the past.

I hope the case is thrown out before it gets to trial.

[RLJSlick]

I'm I wrong, but you can go to Best Buy or Circuit City and buy your DirecTV boxes right?

Update: I see you still leasing the box even if you get them from BB:

"Prices shown are "lease upgrade fees." Additional $4.99/mo. lease fee applies for each DIRECTV Receiver you add. Programming commitment required. See terms."

DirecTV doesn't allow ownership of the box either, but the dish is yours to keep if one decided to cancel.

[basshive]

I'm I wrong, but you can go to Best Buy or Circuit City and buy your DirecTV boxes right?

They are still "leased". So yes, you can go buy one but its not yours to do with as your see fit when you activate it.

[Stanley Kritzik]

I'm I wrong, but you can go to Best Buy or Circuit City and buy your DirecTV boxes right?

Update: I see you still leasing the box even if you get them from BB:

"Prices shown are "lease upgrade fees." Additional $4.99/mo. lease fee applies for each DIRECTV Receiver you add. Programming commitment required. See terms."

For some reason, if you buy (I mean "buy") an HR21-Pro from, say, Solid Signal, you have bought it.  You'll still pay a monthly box fee, but the box is yours.  This being a family site, I can't say what one would do with it unless you were using it with DirecTV's access card, etc., but as a boat anchor, it is yours.  I think my oldest H20 is mine, too, but my newer H20 is "leased".

Blame it on the lawyers.

Stan

[gparris]

TWC's DVR rate averages about $16 a month per box because it includes the $8.50 DVR service fee per box unlike Directv's $5.99 per account DVR fee for as many DVRs you want to lease.
So $16 x 12 months (annually) for theTWC rate equals twice the $99 HD DVR lease outlay for the first HD DVR from Directv, or equal approx. a second HD DVR from Directv at $199 if so desire/require it.
Note, too, that the $16 monthly TWC rate is more once you add the taxes and franchise fees, too.
Directv offers a fine HD DVR with pricing that is better than TWC, so its a win-win, you just have to save up for the up front lease outlays; worse, if you want two HD DVRs (like me).