A lawsuit filed by a bunch of faceless, money grubbing entertainment companies has killed the network DVR before it even made its debut. New York’s Cablevision had wanted to introduce a digital video recorder that, instead of locally storing content on a hard drive, would store everything on Cablevision’s servers somewhere out there. The complaining companies, which include such forward-looking and new technology-loving monoliths like Universal Studios and Turner Broadcasting, claimed that such a device would violate copyright laws left and right and endanger the rightness of our way of life. The courts agreed, sentencing another promising technology to an early extinction. Hooray for everyone.

Cablevision Loses Network-DVR Case [Multichannel News via Zatz Not Funny]