Dish Network LLC (Nasdaq: DISH) is facing a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit for allegedly calling millions of consumers who had previously asked the satellite TV giant's telemarketers and its affiliates not to call them. Even if consumers are not on the national Do Not Call Registry, telemarketers are prohibited from calling them again if they specifically ask to be placed on the company's own do-not-call list. The FTC claims Dish broke this rule millions of times via outbound calls placed since September 2007. The U.S. Department of Justice , on behalf of the FTC, is litigating a separate case against Dish for similar violations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) VP for Internet Services and Software Eddy Cue downplayed the company's ability to crack the pay-TV market anytime soon in a recent conversation with Pacific Crest Securities Inc. analyst Andy Hargreaves, reports Forbes. While Apple appears confident that it can help bring better navigation to pay-TV services, it's having difficulty breaking down a business model controlled by cable operators and other traditional service providers. In the latest round of reheated, TV-related Apple rumors, The Wall Street Journal said the company is supposedly interested in developing a set-top in partnership with cable operators. (See Would an Apple Set-Top Box Pay Off? )

Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) customers can watch Fox News and the Fox Business Network on the go on the iPad and iPhone. They'll just need to download the Fox apps and sign in with their TV Everywhere credentials. TW Cable has also developed its own app for iOS devices, but limits access to live TV streaming within the reach of the customer's home Wi-Fi signal. Cable operators are expected to offer access to additional live TV feeds outside the home as they secure those rights in new carriage deals. (See TWC Streams Live TV to Androids.)

Panasonic Corp. (NYSE: PC) bugged out of the U.S. set-top cable market earlier this year, but the company's silicon unit is still keeping close tabs on the DVB-T2 box market, which is targeted to parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. Panasonic's Semiconductor Business Group and MaxLinear Corp. are working together on DVB-T2 set-tops by integrating MaxLinear's MxL603 silicon tuner with Panasonic's MN88472 demodulator. They hope the combo will help to drive down cost for single-tuner "zapper" set-tops, and offer support for dual-tuner DVR-capable boxes that comply with the latest DVB-T2 specs. (See Panasonic Exits US Cable Set-Top Biz .)

Espial Group Inc. 's 6.0 TV browser, which supports HTML5 and Flash, will be pre-integrated on Panasonic chips for connected television sets that will support streaming video and other bandwidth-eating apps.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable