Since 2007, cable operator CableVision has been attempting to launch a network DVR service, in which subscribers’ programming choices would be recorded on servers in data centers maintained by CableVision, rather than on set-top boxes in users’ homes. The plan immediately ran into legal trouble from broadcast networks and movie studios, who argued that storing content on behalf of a subscriber and sending it down the wire later amounting to re-broadcasting the content—something that wasn’t covered under the cable operator’s license to carry the content in the first place.
