D Day For Ice TV Vs Nine

Today in the Federal Court David takes on Goliath when small EPG (Electronic Program Guide) Company Ice TV defends itself in an action in which Channel Nine are attempting to put Ice TV out of business for providing an EPG service.

The outcome of the court case is critical to the Australian public as Australia is very much a backward nation when it comes to EPG technology due to the likes of Channel Nine, who are going to great lengths to force consumers to watch TV commercials.

In Europe and the USA most free to air TV stations have made their stations available for recording via an EPG enabled device such as a media centre. Nine wants to sue IceTV for breach of copyright in the Federal Court over the sale of program guides that allow viewers to record shows and avoid watching commercials. Earlier this month Duncan Ross the Managing Director of Ice TV quite. “This case is sucking money and Ice TV need to win this case. They need to cut costs and put all their effort into taking Channel Nine on.”

He added “Every media centre or set top box is stuffed without an EPG guide and the media companies are trying desperately to control what people watch”.

“The days of the 30-second commercial that we have all grown up watching are numbered,” said IceTV business development manager Matt Kossatz. “Free-to-air networks have to find more cunning ways to get to their market.”

For a subscription fee of $3 a week, IceTV provides an electronic programming guide that allows viewers to automatically record programs and cut out ads with the touch of a button.