Because Dish was ordered to pay royalties to TiVo for violating their patent on technology that allows viewers to record and play back video at the same time, TiVo now has major leverage that all but forces other cable providers to do business. Naturally TWC, the nation's second largest cable provider, is top on their target list—and they are said to be in the midst of discussions. Because getting around the patent is no easy task, it seems likely that TiVo will see its market share grow by leaps and bounds in the years to come. [Bloomberg / Image via Jake Ludington]

In other words, if they are not going to get the blood money they planned from CBB, they might not feel the need to roll out wideband (even though they are not implicitly tied). Alex Dudley, VP of public relations for Time Warner explains via his twitter feed:

@gigastacey it was scheduled as part of cbb trial, but we all know how you feel about that.

@netpro2k It doesn't...just that the rollout was scheduled with the trial and now all of it is on hold.

@Stryph Biggest cost is actually bandwidth allocation.

Obviously, if they are concerned about another major public backlash, they had damn well better come through with this. As a TWC customer, I will definitely be one of those people shaking my fist. [PCMag]

Apparently, the new plan is to roll out some sort of meter system that will help customers gauge their internet usage and, in most cases, realize that the bandwidth caps will not really affect them. As far as I can tell, there is no "misunderstanding" here. No matter how you break it down, it's pretty obvious that TWC customers are getting screwed. [TWC via DemocratandChronicle Thanks George!]

"What happened as we're continuing to listen was we worked in some of the comments and ideas that got sent to us," Ramos said. "We came to the realization, let's do this in October."

Meanwhile, the AP has a story detailing customer pushback in Rochester, NY, another potential test zone. Although no delay has been announced for Rochester, angry customers are getting their legislators involved. Showdown!

[San Antonio Express-News, AP via Register]

The key was in metering and charging correctly for overage, apparently, something that trials in Beaumont, Texas helped to iron out. This concept of charging penalties for going over your limit, like your cellphone provider does, works and is probably profitable, moreso than the hard-stop download caps that other providers are enforcing.

The news isn't that TW is looking at 40GB caps, which we knew earlier. The news is that they're going to be looking at potential caps higher than 40GB. In addition, there's a lower-tiered plan for people who want to use less than 5GB a month.

Time Warner's also bringing out usage trackers so people can view their current status, which means there's no surprises when you get billed for 4000GB instead of 40GB. [AP]

Viacom's argument is that their channels "provide 20 percent of their audience" yet they only "receive about 2.5 percent of the fees Time Warner pays," so they're asking for what amounts to a rate increase of 23 cents per subscriber. Time Warner says that "the root of this is that the advertising market has gone soft and Viacom is desperate" and it's no time to be making people pay more for TV.

Viacom's PR campaign, so far, is decidedly brilliant: They've taken out full page ads in the Times and other papers today with characters like Dora the Explorer crying because children can't watch her starting tomorrow. Time Warner's response is pretty savvy too. Time Warner spokesman Alexander Dudley said that they'll "be telling our customers exactly where they can go to see these programs online...We’ll also be telling them how they can hook up their PCs to a television set.”

That's right—the cable company will be telling people to use Hulu. That's a first. True, they're still doing it over Time Warner's pipes, but it's pretty shocking coming from a cable company/ISP, who, like every other TV/ISP service provider, has traditionally pushed people in various ways to use the internet less and their TV services more. In fact, Time Warner has squawked before that they hate the amount of content—like The Hills and The Daily Show, the very programs at issue here—that broadcasters are putting online for free. Now they're sending people to them.

This is also the same Time Warner that's capping the amount of data people can use a month in certain markets, which, survey says, is a network management practice likely to spread—in large part due to the amount of strain on broadband networks coming from streaming video now.

And this Time Warner's going to tell people to stream more video? Maybe they're just going to bump your broadband bill instead, or this is a bluff. So, don't worry guys, you'll totally be able to watch Comedy Central while you're hungover tomorrow. (Probably.) [NY Times via NewTeeVee]

Designed to thwart hardcore data slurpers (and soon HD video downloads that'll in time seriously compete with cable's offerings), consumption-based billing throws us back to the days AOL—sure, it's more data, but the principle is effectively the same, and it'll to regular consumers sooner than the cable industry would have you believe, especially once online video actually gets rolling. While Time Warner emphasized to us it's just a test, we don't expect this to stay in Texas for long, especially with Comcast mulling over similar plans. Long live internet in the US. [Yahoo]

• "Content available on cable networks is changing all the time. New services are added, some are redesigned and others are removed."

• "SDV technology is designed to expand the range of services offered by cable operators, not reduce them."

• "Many CE companies chose to implement receivers that lack the necessary circuitry to provide a full two-way cable experience with the CableCard."

• "No product was ever originally designed to work with this new Tuning Adaptor including the existing Tivo UDPC products...Since consumer products don't use Microsoft Windows, they don't have plug-in drivers. Instead a new firmware update is needed to include the necessary driver controls to interact with this new external device. Makers of any existing UDCPs that already have a USB port (there are many) are just as able to provide new firmware as Tivo, if they chose to do so."

• "Consumers should look for products identified as tru2way to ensure they will be able to get all the new and advanced services their digital cable systems can deliver."

Last we checked, Panasonic was the only one with a tru2way TV pegged to an actual shipdate, and Comcast was the only cable company even talking about implementing it this year, but again, hopefully we'll hear a lot more about this come the NCTA's Cable Show on May 18-20. We certainly look forward to hearing good news from CableLabs (and we're sure they look forward to sharing some). [CableLabs; Original HD Guru Story]

Cablevision and Time Warner Cable say that there is a CableLabs fix, a USB-based dongle that will enable the upstream communication required for SDV. But Merson says makers of CableCard TV sets (fewer and farther between these days) can't make use of any USB dongles. TiVo, on the other hand, said in December it would release the SDV-compatible dongle at an unspecified time this year, though they're not talking any more about it at the current time.

It's a lot of cable-tech mumbo jumbo, but if it means losing channels (and not getting any kind of payback for the loss, says Merson), well, it's a crisis. Fortunately, the big industry Cable Show will be happening soon, so let's make sure they have something to talk about. Check with your provider, and let us know if you're experiencing any SDV-related shafting on your end. [HD Guru]

But then we've got the DRM/studio content restrictions: No transfer to portable devices or burning, and content automatically withers off of your computer when it hits the expiration date in 4-12 weeks. Better than the iTunes timeframe nonetheless. And that whole Roadrunner requirement, it's totally literal, as in you can only pick up new content while connected to Roadrunner.

On the upside, you can register up to five computers per household, and you've got features like series passes that auto-download within five minutes of a show airing on TV. Since the file size runs about 1.2GB for a two-hour flick, the res is probably pretty close to what iTunes offers. Besides, it's free, and you can't beat that. [DVD Dossier via Engadget]

As a Cablevision subscriber with all of the channels the carrier now offers, all I can say is, "Please, dear God, no more programming!" Why would I say this?

The story mentions that Comcast and DirecTV are also building up capacity for HD, but not once does the story mention how the hell anyone intends to access this veritable sh'load of content. Cablevision, based mostly in and around the New York metropolitan area, uses the same Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD that its archrival Time Warner Cable NYC uses, yet with an even worse user interface, if you can imagine it:

• There's no way to search for shows (without growing a full beard in the process)
• There are 17 redundant options for scheduling a season pass, yet no way to skip recording one given episode
• By default, old content stays and when capacity is reached it stops recording new content, with no warning
• DVR and VOD options are separate channels, so there's no good way to do contextual search, among many other problems

I have been contemplating it, but now I will solemnly vow it: I will walk the fiery-coal path towards a Cablevision CableCard, to use with DVRs from TiVo and Microsoft. I will do so in the name of Giz, and in the name of 500-channel shitty-DVR sufferers everywhere. Down with the CableCo-mandated EPG!!! – Wilson Rothman

Cablevision could air 500 HD channels by year-end [Reuters]

It looks like Time Warner has finally decided to try to counteract Verizon's FiOS Fiber Optic Home Network service, which is much faster at 30mbps/5mbps but is glacially spreading itself around the US.

Jump to see the text of that slippery email, and then we rip them a new one.

Here's Time Warner's semi-secret "special notice" to customers (italics and boldface theirs):

"Time Warner Cable, the company that was first at fast and first at fiber optics, is increasing your speed again. We're doubling it in the new year ... for no extra cost.

In the first quarter of 2007, Road Runner will be doubling the download speed for its residential customers to 10 Mbps. Our Time Warner Cable Business Class customers will experience similar increases in speed.* The same monthly price that you've been paying will stay the same.

Increased speed. Same price. Great deal.

We haven't told the media yet. This is a special notice directly to you, our loyal and valued Road Runner customer. In the coming weeks, you'll see more information about this exciting improvement in your internet service."

We can only hope that Verizon and other competitors will release captive customers from this stranglehold of slow and unreliable broadband service that seems to be prevalent across the board in the U.S.

We say, who cares if it's going to be twice as fast? Road Runner throttles us down to zero on a daily basis, and even though we're using $70/month Business Class service that's supposedly 7Mbps, its speed is frequently 0Mbps. Do the math: 0 x 2 = 0. Bah. – Charlie White

Road Runner Doubling Bandwidth [Loot Ninja]

But wait. While Zatz Not Funny reports Comcast balkiness with the CableCards, I had nothing but smooth sailing with Time Warner Cable, which sent over an astute technician who immediately plugged two CableCards into a TiVo Series 3 HD Multimedia Recorder, and all worked perfectly after just a few minutes. The company did charge me $31 for the truck roll, though. Anyone else having positive or negative experiences with the cable companies on this issue? – Charlie White

TiVo Meets With FCC, Talks CableCARD [Zatz Not Funny]

...once the tivo series 3 device are released we will be able to install a CableCARD for those devices as well as any other CableLabs certified devices...

Were they going to support it all along, or was this little bit of media exposure enough to send them back to the meeting rooms and switch their policy? We'll never know, but TWC customers should be glad that they'll get to TiVo the upcoming season of Nip/Tuck in HD after all. – Jason Chen

MP3 recording of call and apology

Time Warner Cable Will Support The Series 3 TiVo (Apologizes For Providing Misinformation) [TiVoBlog]

The magic word? "L3," referring to Level 3 tech support, putting you in touch with those anointed ones who can not only help you figure out what's wrong, but authorize a truck roll or give you a refund. If you recall, it took us a couple of weeks of going through Road Runner hell before we could talk to someone who could do this. Maybe someday they'll put these people on the first call instead of fobbing us off on those worthless louts whose only trick is to tell us to reboot the modem. – Charlie White

HOWTO: Get Actual Customer Support From Time Warner Cable [The Consumerist]

The best part of this proposal is that you wouldn't have to remember to record the shows yourself, but the downside is they're only offering the top 20 shows from those four networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox), much of which is shameless ad-infested drivel. Come to think of it, this sounds like another "stupid tax," where you pay a $10 fine each month for being a dope and forgetting to record your shows. It's your money.

TimeWarner Cable talks Hits channel with networks [Reuters]

Customers using the converged services will be able to seamlessly interface between email, home and mobile voicemail, Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) and photo programs.

And of course, in each market, the cable company will be responsible for billing customers. Nearly jumping up and down with glee, Gary Forsee, president and CEO of Sprint Nextel said:

The new Sprint-cable partnerships will forever transform what used to be merely a cell phone into an indispensable third screen in customer's lives. By giving consumers more access to information, entertainment and data from their cell phone, we will create more loyal customers, and we'll further drive our growth. With the convergence of technologies and capabilities accelerating, we will create personalized content, useful innovative applications and easy-to-understand navigation required by consumers. Together with our cable partners, we will have the unique content and distribution assets to realize this opportunity.

Sprint Nextel, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications to Form Landmark Cable and Wireless Joint Venture [Sprint]