The Supreme Court won’t hear a challenge to Cablevision’s remote ...

asked the court not to take the case. Cablevision will start using the technology later this summer to let subscribers pause live TV when their phone rings, the company said. “This landmark case gives the cable industry, and Cablevision in particular, the opportunity to do something that our satellite competitors cannot do,” it said. “Mindful of the potential implications for ad skipping and the concerns this has raised in the programming community,” the company aims to “work with programmers” on full DVR functionality through existing set-top boxes while benefitting advertisers. The decision gives firms such as Cablevision, Comcast and Time Warner Cable more certainty they can sell remote DVR service “without legal risk,” wrote analyst Paul Gallant of the Washington Research Group. Cable vendors Arris and SeaChange may see increased demand, he said. Losers in the case are content companies including CBS, Disney, News Corp., Viacom and Time Warner Inc., Gallant added. Remote DVR will mean lower storage costs for Cablevision and fewer technician visits to customers’ homes, wrote Stifel Nicolaus analysts. Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said the product also will lower costs for consumers. The case wasn’t participated in by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, the court said, without saying why. A CNN spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the decision. CEA hails the court “for letting stand a decision that supports the growth of technology and innovation,” President Gary Shapiro said. “The ability to record television programming has become commonplace to millions of Americans, which has benefitted consumers and allowed the consumer technology and content industries to contribute billions of dollars to our economy and create millions of jobs,” he said. “From a common-sense standpoint, the court’s decision was a slam-dunk” because it previously ruled that consumers have the right to time-shift TV shows, Shapiro said.