Digital video maker wins breathing space

ReplayTV 4000: Retails for $699 (£460) in the US

The makers of a controversial digital video recorder have won their first victory in a legal battle against film studios and television networks.

A judge has granted consumer electronics company SonicBlue a stay of a court order that would have forced it to track the television viewing habits of people using its ReplayTV 4000 machine.

The decision has given SonicBlue some breathing space until 3 June, when the judge will consider whether to overturn the original court ruling.

"We are pleased that the court has granted this stay and look forward to a full hearing in this matter," said SonicBlue CEO Ken Potashner.

Copyright battle

The major film studios and TV networks are suing SonicBlue, alleging that features of the ReplayTV video recorder allow people to violate copyright.

The entertainment media companies object to features on the digital video recorder that allow viewers to skip advertisements and a broadband facility that allows users to share recorded programmes with others.

ReplayTV 4000 features

Automatically skips ads

Sends recorded shows over the net

Stores up to 320 hours of TV

Streams video over a home network

The original court order gave SonicBlue 60 days from the beginning of May to design and install the software on both new and existing video boxes to monitor viewing habits.

Lawyers for the media companies say they need this information to find out the extent to which the ReplayTV 4000 allows customers to skip ads or copy and share TV shows and films.

Consumer and privacy groups were up in arms over the original court decision, which effectively ordered SonicBlue to spy on thousands of customers to see if they were breaking copyright law.

They said it was tantamount to an invasion of privacy.

The legal battle over the ReplayTV 4000 is part of the wider struggle between the entertainment and technology industries over how digital devices are changing the way people consume films, TV and music.