IceTV wins court case

IceTV, the Australian PVR guide company, has won the legal case bought against it by Channel Nine.

This is great news for Australian consumers and TV viewers.

I have to admit I was less than optimistic about IceTV's chances. In the past, Australian courts have tended to side with the incumbents in cases like this. The DtMS versus Telstra case where Telstra won their copyright claim on phone directories is the best example.

One thing to temper the good news is how accurate IceTV can be. Given the problems we find with Australian TV schedules, it's possible that an online schedule isn't much use anyway.