While it was Pulse~LINK winning the last (but obviously not final) round of this multi-year tiff, the tables have turned once more. Tzero Technologies has just announced that the US Patent Office "issued an office action rejecting all claims of US patent number 6,970,448 asserted in a lawsuit brought by Pulse~LINK against Tzero in June 2007." This decision, coupled with a stay issued by the district court, will evidently bring the lawsuit to a close "for the foreseeable future." We're told that the legal struggles between the two are now officially over, but we're admittedly hesitant to believe it.

Personally, we think the whole three-month expiration on these government-issued DTV vouchers is pretty pointless, but Iowa senators Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin are pleading with the National Telecommunications Information Administration for a different reason. The duo asserts that Iowa citizens badly affected by the recent severe weather shouldn't have to flip through whatever is left of their belongings in order to scrounge up pieces of a $40 coupon; they suggest that simply reissuing them would be a much better alternative. Can't say that we disagree there, but senators, if you two manage to get this by the NTIA, how's about wringing their arm to get those expiration dates removed as well?

First off, you've got to be kidding us. Okay, now that we've got that out, get a load of this. After the FCC told Comcast earlier this month that its data discrimination tactics weren't kosher, the provider has decided to react by simply slowing all internet traffic on its heaviest users. More specifically, Mitch Bowling, Comcast's senior vice president and general manager of online services, stated in a recent interview that the top internet speeds for "targeted customers will be reduced for periods lasting 10 minutes to 20 minutes, keeping service to other users flowing." Right now, this may not affect you one iota, but what's to happen when your kid spends his summer sucking down content on the VUDU / Hulu / etc.? We can think of quite a few reasons to legitimately use a huge chunk of bandwidth, and having Big Provider keep watch and determine when enough is enough frightens us just a wee bit.

[Via CrunchGear, image courtesy of Kansas]

For anyone who's still confused about the digital television transition -- somehow missing the TV ads, radio spots, numerous articles and a part of the small minority not vigorously refreshing the Engadget HD front page -- the FCC is sending staff out on tour (sans the slick bus, didn't anyone tell them you've got to have a bus? It worked so well for HD DVD...ok maybe not such a great idea) to spread the 0 and 1 gospel. 23 cities identified as having more than 100,000 households or with at least 15% getting their TV strictly via antenna are on the list to be visited by a commissioner, while others will have to make do with mere staffers. FCC.gov has thedetails on when and where they'll be (warning: PDF read link), feel free to see when they're coming to your town. Will you save your ticket stubs to tell everyone "I was at digital switch '08"? (Note: FCCapolooza '08 is not actually converging on Haight-Ashbury in a phenomenon of cultural and political rebellion, but it would be much better if it were).

[Via Variety]

[Image courtesy of Supertouch Art]

The cable industry keeps going out of its way to mention tru2way is open to all, so after Verizon blasted the tech in a letter to the FCC as inhibiting technical innovation, here's National Cable & Telecommunications Association CEO Kyle McSlarrow's waved his hand and sent over this bit of suggestion. Apparently the NCTA is happy to have Verizon as a friend in attempting to rid cable boxes of those icky FCC-mandated FireWire ports (since Ethernet is a suitable replacement, according to them), but wants to clear up the misconception that tru2way devices are incompatible with cable alternatives (satellite, fiber, etc.) since hey, you can still use a set-top box just like you do now. Unfortunately since many of us have the "misconception" that we'd prefer devices that worked with any provider without requiring additional hardware, that's probably not going to cut it. Empty gesture or a real effort towards a unified set of standards across all providers? Take a look at the letter (warning: PDF read link) and decide for yourself.

[Via Cable Digital News]

We hoped that we had pretty much heard the end of Sony's ridiculous ARccOS copy protection -- which added in corrupted sectors in order to prevent copying (and legitimate playback in a myriad of players) -- but sadly, not all wishes are granted. Dave Zatz noticed an announcement on Netflix's website which spells out the remaining DVDs in which ARccOS is still in play, with 007: Casino Royale, Black Christmas, The Grudge 2, Pursuit of Happyness, Stranger than Fiction, The Holiday and a smattering of other halfway popular titles in the mix. It also shows the list of players known to be affected by the DRM, so you may want to take a peek before renting any of the aforesaid titles. Thanks, Big Content!

DirecTV and DISH Network trying to get together again? That's the idea according to the Wall Street Journal, apparently in response to DISH making "a major strategic shift" after losing 25,000 subscribers in Q2. Of course the last time these two tried U + me = Us back in 2001, regulators put the smackdown on the idea, but apparently DISH CEO Charlie Ergen thinks things may be different now. We can see how a 90% drop in subscriber growth (and a blown satellite or two) could cause anyone to reevaluate things, but as our extensive experience watching daytime TV proves, running into a new relationship to escape ones problems never works out long term, but it is interesting to see if either is really willing to stop the constant one-upmanship and concentrate on taking on the cable (& telco) companies together.

[Thanks, Adam]

Charter doesn't have a flawless track record when it comes to customer service, but we can't help but share a little sympathy here. Reportedly, a number of locals in Wisconsin are perturbed by the carrier's decision to push public access channels into slots that require a digital TV tuner or set-top-box. According to Mary Bennin Cardona, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of PEG Access Channels, she "thinks it's discriminatory and really harmful to our communities." Meanwhile, the February 2009 analog shutoff is drawing ever closer, meaning that these very consumers who continue to rely on analog OTA signals will soon be cut off from everything, whether they like it or not. It's reported that Charter is considering handing out STBs for free to those negatively affected, which we suppose would be the best solution here. Still, if it hasn't been made clear yet: you should probably start preparing for the DTV transition. It's coming, and it's coming fast.

[Image courtesy of SimpleSystems]

Finally, a multi-system operator that see this whole two-way CableCARD problem the same way we do. Don't get us wrong, we want to get rid of our providers STB as much as the next, but the way we see it is tru2way isn't that great, but is better than nothing. Just like Verizon, we'd like to see "a cable-centric approach to interactive connectivity [that] does not inhibit technological innovation... or disadvantage other segments of the video marketplace." Or in other words, having the choice of what hardware that we may use on our provider's network isn't good enough, we want to choose the software too. While the rest of the cable industry thinks tru2way is open, we think it is about as open as AOL Internet access was-- so yeah, it's a walled garden. The other thing that really hit home with us about Verizon's statement, was that it thinks the approved solution should be an "all-provider" solution, meaning it should be the same no matter if the provider uses coax, fiber, copper or satellite to deliver services. We couldn't agree more, and would love nothing more than to be able to use an HD TiVo (for example) on any provider we wanted without being forced to give up any features such as HD or VOD.

The FCC finally acted on Comcast's "data management", finding against the company because it had arbitrarily decided which applications subscribers would have access to. Of course, the judgement did not include a fine, and while it enforced a policy for open access to the internet, it doesn't seem to do much for possible bandwidth caps. Comcast does have stop its blocking practice by the end of the year, and provide details to the commission on what exactly it's done so far, and to customers on whatever it plans to do in the future. With online video distribution growing more ubiquitous and even Comcast working with BitTorrent-style technologies like GridNetworks on how to deliver HD over the internet, we're sure we haven't heard the last of this.

Read - Commission Orders Comcast to End Discriminatory Network Management Practices (Warning: PDF link)
Read - Comcast Statement on FCC Internet Regulation Decision
Read - Verizon Statement on FCC's Comcast Decision

Boy, that's a mouthful, is it not? Shortly after Motorola, Sony and a whole crew of others teamed up to support AMIMON's WHDI wireless standard, in limps Pulse~Link attempting to act like it still has a shot at gaining traction. The left-for-dead CWave wireless-for-HDMI platform -- which is based on UWB (ultra-wideband) -- just received certification by Digital Content Protection as an Approved Retransmission Technology. This, along with the FCC certification received in 2007, enables CWave to start shipping in commercial products. As expected, a couple CWave-equipped Westinghouse HDTVs are slated to hit stores this fall, but it remains to be seen if anything will actually be released to take advantage. Format wars never end pretty, do they?

Wilmington, North Carolina, come on down! It looks like Carol Brady will be enlisting the help of none other than Bob Barker in getting people to convert over to DTV. The former host of 'The Price is Right' has shot a public service announcements (PSAs) specifically for the guinea pigs of Wilmington, NC as well as a spot intended for nationwide consumption. Check out the link below to see the spot for yourself -- we've got admit that Bob Barker looks less aged than the TV.

Read - Watch Bob barker PSA

Another month, another bitter argument between a cable carrier and a local broadcaster. On the docket today is Toledo's own WNWO-TV, a local NBC affiliate that is (of course) asking for "fair compensation" for its signal. Pertinent to this conflict is the fact that NBC is the station in question -- you know, the main channel responsible for delivering live Olympics coverage in just over a week. As it stands, both parties feel confident that a deal will be reached, but if the sides cannot come to an agreement, local viewers will be forced to throw up an antenna or seek alternate sources in order to catch local NBC action. We'll be sure to keep an eye on things as the nail-biting discussions continue.

Despite the fact that DirecTV has somehow managed to wrestle MSG HD away from the grasp of Cablevision (the station's owner), most other carriers aren't having as much luck. A recent post by Verizon's Eric Rabe slams Cablevision for its refusal to cooperate with the Cable Act's program access rules in high-definition, noting that it has resorted to going back to the FCC in an attempt to force things forward. Rabe even calls Verizon out, noting that "it's pretty obvious that Cablevision is trying to circumvent the FCC's program access rules by denying Verizon MSG in HD." We don't doubt that there are two sides (one of which is being hidden here) to this story, but in theory, we have to agree that we wish MSG HD was available for more providers. So yeah, go get 'em Verizon -- just don't get too cocky.

[Thanks, Tim]

Up until now, the digital TV transition test markets have seen their tests go over pretty smoothly. Wilmington, Las Vegas and Orlando were able to complete their respective trials without too many issues, but apparently the folks up in the Pacific Northwest aren't nearly as prepared. During a 5:00PM newscast late last week, Seattle's KING 5 simulated an analog cutoff for around half a minute which presented users watching the analog signal with a "snowy" picture. Another test was scheduled for 10:00PM, but the outcry from individuals who "had their television reception interrupted" by the afternoon test forced a postponement. If any of you reading this now just happened to be one of those characters freaking out by the distorted imagery, do yourself a favor and click here to get prepared for the 2009 cutover.