Time Warner goes to court over Ipad TV streaming

US CABLE TV GIANT Time Warner Cable has gone to court to establish that it has the rights to distribute television programmes over unconventional media such as the Ipad.

The company was forced to pull channels from its Ipad app last week after receiving complaints from television networks, including Fox, Viacom and Discovery. Time Warner and its programming partners dispute the interpretation of the former's rights with regard to distribution of shows on the Ipad, which the networks believe Time Warner is not allowed to do, at least not without paying more.

In an effort to resolve the issue, Time Warner filed a request for a declaratory judgement against Viacom. The filing, which Time Warner is careful to highlight "is not a hostile lawsuit", is designed to show the networks and the world at large that Time Warner is on safe legal ground, even if it's stepping on its big media content partners' toes with its position and practices.

"We have steadfastly maintained that we have the rights to allow our customers to view this programming in their homes, over our cable systems, without artificial limits on the screens they can use to do so, and we are asking the court to confirm our view," Time Warner said in a statement.

It claimed that it needed an "impartial third party to referee the situation" and said that it decided to bring the matter to court to resolve it in the "most efficient way" possible. It also said that the move was designed to be "noncombative", but it's unlikely to be seen that way by the television networks that complained about Time Warner's interpretation of its rights in the first place. µ