A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that five ReplayTV owners filed against Hollywood studios that sought to secure the right to use the product"s features to skip commercials and share recordings.
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper on Friday tossed out the lawsuit, brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and attorney Ira Rothken, saying owners of the personal video recorders no longer had an immediate and legitimate fear of being sued, after the studios pledged in August not to do so. Cooper also noted that an earlier lawsuit about two dozen entertainment companies filed against ReplayTV"s manufacturer, Sonicblue, was also dismissed.
The ReplayTV owners" "claims are moot," Cooper concluded in a 14-page ruling. "The court said that as long as the entertainment companies have promised not to sue the five original ReplayTV owners, and as long as they"re not suing Sonicblue, there"s not a sufficient basis for the lawsuit addressing the concerns of the remaining ReplayTV owners," EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said. The judge also denied EFF"s request to expand its legal claim into a class-action lawsuit against the entertainment companies.