Colorado’s two U.S. senators have asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate a dispute between DirecTV and Echostar over the rebroadcasting of local channels.

In a letter dated Aug. 31, Sens. Wayne Allard (R) and Ken Salazar (D) asked the committee to examine whether DirecTV and owner News Corp. have "engaged in behavior that would threaten the viability of the satellite TV market."

Echostar Communications Corp., headquartered in Englewood, Colo., announced Aug. 28 that it agreed to pay $100 million to end a nine-year litigation battle with ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox Affiliate Associations over the rebroadcasting of local TV programs.

The agreement will allow Echostar to continue local network channels, and the satellite operator plans to expand those offerings to 175 markets by the end of 2006, the company said in a statement. The $100 million payment will "protect its subscribers from the potential shut-off of their distant network channels," Echostar said. As part of the settlement, the company also agreed to terminate signals rebroadcast to customers not eligible to receive them.

Distant channels are ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox network channels that originate from a market outside the community in which the subscriber lives. Fewer than 1 million Echostar subscribers receive these signals, the company said.

The agreement follows an Aug. 22 opinion written by U.S. Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas not to delay a May decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit that could have forced Echostar to stop rebroadcasting network TV shows.

Echostar was sued in 1998 by major commercial TV networks claiming that the rebroadcast of copyrighted programming by Echostar to individual consumers violated a federal law that states that satellite companies can carry network signals from other markets only if homes cannot receive signals through other means. Echostar previously settled with hundreds of TV stations and station groups, including the ABC, NBC and CBS networks, and the latest agreement brings the total settlements to nearly 800 stations, Echostar said.

The settlement is contingent on confirmation by the U.S. Federal District Court in Florida.

Echostar has yet to reach a settlement with Fox Network, which owns about 25 stations. Fox is owned by News Corp., which also owns Echostar rival DirecTV.

"Though unlikely, it is possible Fox’s last-minute tactic could derail the entire settlement and force Echostar to seek legislation to protect its subscribers from disruption," Echostar said.

Judge Halts Echostar DVR Patent Suit Against Tivo

In a separate legal battle, a Texas judge has stopped Echostar’s patent-infringement lawsuit against Tivo Inc. and Humax USA Inc. over digital video recorder (DVR) technology, Tivo announced Aug. 28.

In February, a jury in Texas ruled that Echostar infringed on a Tivo patent for DVRs and awarded Tivo more than $73 million to cover lost profits and royalties. An Echostar countersuit has been scheduled to begin in February, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven for the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, issued a stay order in July to allow the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to reexamine the patents in question.

"The reexamination requests Tivo submitted to the USPTO detail how a large number of prior art references that the USPTO did not previously consider raise substantial new questions regarding the validity of the claims Echostar asserted and why those claims are invalid," Tivo said in a statement. "Tivo will continue to defend its technology vigorously and will not be intimidated by claims such as those Echostar asserted against Tivo — claims Echostar asserted in response to Tivo’s successful suit against Echostar."