October 6 - 12:35pm EDT   EchoStar and DISH today were told by the US Supreme Court to pay TiVo $104 million for allegedly infringing on some of the DVR maker's patents. The decision comes following an unsuccessful appeal of an original 2006 decision by EchoStar and DISH and will potentially increase further if additional patent lawsuits and claims of contempt are decided in TiVo's favor. The set-top box producer last month accused DISH and EchoStar of violating a stop placed on their own DVRs by continuing to sell satellite TV DVRs with software TiVo says copies its features. [full story]

April 11 - 8:40pm EDT   In response to the ruling against the Dish Network, the company writes that it is disappointed with the court's rejection for an appeal, but that it will not affect current or future customers. According to the note, EchoStar has already developed and deployed a new version of the DVR software to customers as an automatic download. Dish claims the new software does not infringe on patents held by Tivo Inc. [full story]

April 9 - 10:20pm EDT   Sling's long-awaited Sling Catcher is suffering from a delay that will most likely push its release to late 2008. The delay was discovered by Engadget reader "Christopher", who was a prospective customer of Sling's, noting that the vice president of sales Gregg Wilkes sent him an email informing him that the device was not up to the company's high standards. Wilkes also cited that the company's recent acquisition by EchoStar has caused for some complications. [full story]

December 7 - 3:15pm EST   EchoStar has formally split up in a way that could impact the future of Sling Media's Slingbox devices, based on details of an SEC filing. The company has formally changed its name to DISH Network. The change reflects the former EchoStar's core businesses of satellite TV service and producing its own set-top boxes, according to the update. Part of the company, now called Echostar Holdings, will break away from DISH and carries Sling Media with it. The Slingbox maker was bought by EchoStar in September and was originally believed to be used for adding Internet-based remote viewing for DISH subscribers. [full story]