The 2012 voluntary multi-industry agreement on set-top box energy efficiency reduced annual U.S. set-top power consumption by 34 percent to 21 terawatt-hours in 2017, a reduction equaling nearly the power generated annually by four typical 500 megawatt coal-run power plants, said independent auditor D+R International in a Thursday report. MVPDs, set-top box makers and energy efficiency advocates recently OK'd a four-year extension of their agreement (see 1803150057), which requires publication of the annual audit reports. In 2017 alone, the agreement saved U.S. consumers more than $1.4 billion on their energy bills and cut 8.1 million tons of CO2 emissions, said the report. For the five-year life of the agreement, cumulative energy consumption was reduced by an estimated 27.8 TWh, saving consumers about $3.5 billion on their energy bills and avoiding 20.6 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, said the report: “The energy saved during this five-year period is enough to power all homes in Los Angeles County with electricity for almost a year.”

Disney and Fox will ensure that the 22 Fox regional sports networks to be divested as part of Disney's Fox takeover (see 1806270016) will remain an "ongoing, economically viable, competitive cable sports programming network" and stay "independent and uninfluenced by the consummation of the Transaction," DOJ said in a docket 18-cv-05800-CM competitive impact statement filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. It said the divestiture laid out in the proposed final judgment would lead to "independent and economically viable" sports programming competitor in those 22 markets to Disney's networks, including ESPN. It said the RSNs have to be sold in such a way they can and will operate as sustainable businesses competing in the relevant markets. It said comments on the final judgment will be due within 60 day of the publication of the competitive impact statement in the Federal Register.

Numerous music labels are suing a pair of sites that convert video or audio streaming on YouTube into mp3 files, seeking to have the "stream ripping" sites shut down. In the docket 18-cv-00957-CMH-TCB complaint (in Pacer) filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, and posted Monday, the plaintiffs said sites FLVTO.biz and 2conv.com induce and facilitate copyright violation by the sites' users as well as violate YouTube's terms of service. They said the two sites combined have close to 120 million visitors a month. The plaintiffs include Capitol Records, Warner Bros. Records and Sony Music Entertainment. The suit seeks an injunction against the operators of those sites, surrender of the domain names and statutory damages. The sites didn't comment Tuesday.

Copyright Royalty Board judges set the 2010-13 distribution of cable and satellite TV royalty funds to be allocated to the devotional claimants category, said a Federal Register notice to be published Monday.

TVEyes is taking its legal fight with Fox to the Supreme Court and asking for more time to do so. In an application Wednesday to extend time to file a petition for writ of certiorari, TVEyes asked Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- as circuit justice for the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals -- to move its petition deadline from Aug. 13 to Sept. 12. It said the case "presents an exceptionally important question" about the Copyright Act's fair use defense -- especially the fourth fair use factor, dealing with the effect of the use on a potential market for, or value of, a copyrighted work. It said the 2nd Circuit's decision earlier this year reversing a lower court decision that some TVEyes functions constitute fair use (see 1802270025) conflicts with prior Supreme Court and other appellate court decisions rejecting the idea market harm can be presumed from a copyright defendant's commercial success. It also said the 2nd Circuit decision is in conflict with the Supreme Court and other appellate courts in saying Fox can "control a market that enables criticism of and commentary on Fox" and let a copyright owner pre-empt the exploitation of a transformative market. Fox didn't comment Thursday.

Authorized third-party labs are required to stop certifying TVs to the old Energy Star V7.0 specification after Aug. 15 and may certify TVs only to the new V8.0 spec, said the EPA in a Wednesday email “reminder” to TV “stakeholders.” EPA first disclosed the timeline when it released the V8.0 spec Feb. 23 (see 1802230046 or 1802260008). Certification labs “may continue submitting administrative modifications to existing television certifications” to V7.0 spec until Feb. 28, said the agency. With V8.0's March 1 effective date, only TVs certified as conforming to the V8.0 spec will appear on the Energy Star website and certified products list, said EPA.

New Sony sets include one to match Netflix content to TV playback, a Master Series launch event was told in New York Tuesday. This is for a “cinema-quality experience,” said Sony Electronics President Mike Fasulo. Scott Mirer, Netflix vice president-device partner ecosystem, said his company wants to give consumers choice and control, and calibrated mode shows programming as meant to be seen: with “precise colors; accurate, dynamic contrast; and true motion.” He contrasted early days of “poor quality” internet video via PC with content today, when “nearly all the latest innovations in visual entertainment are delivered first to your TV through the internet.” Today, “there is no better screen than the one in your living room,” he said, citing 4K and HDR. A third of smart TVs using Netflix support HDR, Mirer said, and the video streamer offers more than 400 hours of HDR and 2,000 hours of 4K content.

Sony paid Michael Jackson’s estate $287.5 million for the 25.1 percent stake in Nile Acquisition that it didn’t previously own, said Sony Tuesday. Nile owns 40 percent of EMI Music Publishing, which Sony will make a subsidiary after it buys the majority share from a Mubadala Investment consortium under a definitive agreement announced June 29, it said.

Charter Communications and El Centro, California, ended their reciprocal legal fight over a blackout of Northwest Broadcasting stations on the operator (see 1804260003). The dispute ended in June (see 1806080051). U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia of San Diego last week issued an order granting the sides' joint motion for dismissal (in Pacer, docket 18-CV-00679-AJB-PCL) in Charter's claim that El Centro meddled in negotiations with Northwest. The two sides the same day filed a joint motion to dismiss (in Pacer, docket 18-cv-00785-AJB-PCL) in El Centro's complaint alleging violations of the California False Claims Act. El Centro and a handful of other communities also filed a complaint with the FCC alleging a Charter violation of the 30-day advance notice rule with the Feb. 2 blackout (see 1804050049).

With the Energy Star V8.0 TV specification revision complete, EPA for 2019 will restore TVs to its Energy Star Most Efficient program for the first time in three years, said the agency Monday. By mid-2016, 55 TV models from a dozen brands qualified, said the agency then. That's when it “suspended” TVs “in light of EPA’s effort,” while drafting and finalizing the new spec.” EPA released the V8.0 TV spec Feb. 23 after a year and a half process including participant acrimony (see 1802270044).