Scott Flick Comments on Dish Network’s Set-Top Box "Hopper"

Dish Network unveiled an upgrade to its set-top box called "Hopper," announced at the CES trade show this week. One new feature that may raise eyebrows allows the viewer to transfer recorded TV shows or movies to an iPad for viewing any time. Dish is already fighting lawsuits from Fox and NBC over the automatic ad-skipping feature it introduced with the first Hopper.

Legally speaking,"to say you’re in novel territory is probably an understatement," said Scott Flick, a partner in Pillsbury’s communications practice.

However, legal challenges to the transfer feature could be stymied by the fact that the stored movies and shows are under the control of the viewer the whole time, Flick said. In other words, the system is not much different from a VCR that lets a consumer tape a show and then view the tape elsewhere.