TiVo sues two telco giants

Partners or enemies? Is it possible for DVR pioneer TiVo to be both to telcos? In recent years, the company has made overtures to the telco community and other service providers that arguably helped TiVo through a rough spot in its evolution. TiVo has partnered with WindStream Communications on a resale deal, and with Verizon Wireless on a mobile DVR scheduling capability.

Now, however, TiVo is suing both Verizon and AT&T, saying the companies are infringing on its TiVo's "time-warping" patent, a claim similar to the one at the center of an ongoing legal battle between TiVo and satellite TV player Dish Network. TiVo has reached agreements with some service providers, and was trying to do the same with the two telco giants, but didn't find the progress, or lack thereof, to its liking.

Interestingly, TiVo chief Tom Rogers will be speaking to a big telco audience soon as a keynote speaker at Supercomm 2009 in Chicago in October. Can TiVo and the telcos still be friends? Probably. It's a good bet that Rogers will be wooing the telcos while also gently explaining why TiVo needs to get paid.

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- FierceTelecom has this story

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