Rovi Sues Hulu Over ITV Patents

Happy Friday, cable gang. We end the week with a look at lawsuits, Internet video, and set-top news impacting the industry.

Rovi Corp. sued Hulu LLC for patent infringement, accusing the Web video site of ripping off technology for interactive program guides. The lawsuit comes into play as Hulu's owners seek a buyer. (See Hulu Offers Programming Perks With Sale.)

More Google TV owners are returning the Internet video set-tops in droves, according to Logitech Ltd. , which manufactures the Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) box. Logitech will try to spark Google TV sales by slashing the price from $249 to $99. (See Google TV Stumbles Out of the Blocks and Google TV Still Not Ready for Prime Time .)

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) won't offer FiOS TV in Patchogue, N.Y., which may ease franchise renewal talks in the Long Island village for Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC).

It was the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) 's turn to weigh in as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers whether to morph AllVid into a full-fledged rule-making effort, arguing that cable's recent efforts aren't enough to spur a true retail market for set-tops and other video devices. The cable industry, led by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) , is pressing the FCC to kill another round of government mandates centered on set-tops and security. (See AllVid Starting to Look App-Tastic and Cable Lobby Gripes About Google, AllVid .)

Roku Inc. 's new over-the-top video set-top features a "dead-simple" user interface and its lack of technical glitches make the box seem "bullet proof," according to this review. (See Angry Birds Flocks to the Roku 2 .)

The biggest factor behind Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC)'s 14 percent drop in second-quarter revenue was a decrease in video-on-demand sales from its adult-film library. [Ed note: A sign of the apocalypse?] (See TW Cable Sheds 130,000 Video Subs in Q2 .)

Home Box Office Inc. (HBO) says it hopes to land distribution deals for its HBO GO mobile app with Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems. (See Charter Subs Get HBO GO.)

Life in a Day, a documentary based on videos uploaded from YouTube Inc. users worldwide on July 24, 2009, premieres today. Here's a preview.



— Steve Donohue, Special to Light Reading Cable