The brand-new satellite has been shipped from its manufacturer, Space Systems/Loral, and is on its way to Kazakhstan, where it will boosted into orbit atop a Proton Breeze M rocket. Yeah, I know. What the heck is that? I’ll just assume – safely I believe – that it is a big old rocket that is going to deliver the new satellite to its new home, some 23,000 miles above planet Earth.

The new satellite is being described as “a direct broadcast satellite designed to provide expanded high definition (HD) services and flexibility for DISH Network’s more than 14 million direct-to-home (DTH) television subscribers. The satellite is based on SS/L’s 1300 platform, a decades-proven modular bus with the world’s highest power capability and the flexibility to support a broad range of applications and technology advances.”

Yeah. OK. As long as it means I’ll be getting more HD channels to watch, I’m a happy camper.

I didn’t see any indication of the planned launch date, but I know that DISH Network likes to run various tests on new satellites when they are safely in orbit, so it will probably be a while before we can actually view programming from EchoStar XIV.

The lawsuit filed by DirecTV against DISH Network was a result of DirecTV’s reported belief that the ads were misleading. U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty denied DirecTV’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have halted the advertisements that DirecTV did not like.

Apparently, the judge left the door open for DirecTV to renew their request and better explain what exactly it is about the “Why Pay More?” ads that has DirecTV execs crying foul.

I would think that instead of running to court like a little kid running to mommy after skinning his knee, DirecTV would just come up with some ads of their own that even the score with DISH Network. That seems to be the way it usually goes. My earlier example of how Verizon and AT&T have been ripping each other to shreds is something that I think consumers are accustomed to.

As you might expect, company lawyers presented their cases in court and for now at least, DirecTV was told to pick up all their toys and go home. Perhaps they’ll prepare a better case, or if they smarten up, hire an advertising agency to come up with some ads that target DISH Network.

It’s nice to see a little common sense come from a case like this. It would be nice to see more silly lawsuits get thrown out like this, even if it is just for the time being.

While none of these new channels are particularly exciting to me, it’s good to see that DISH is continuing to roll out new HD channels.

The new channels that have been introduced are Fox Soccer Channel HD, Sportsman HD, Hallmark Channel HD, IndiePlex HD and RetroPlex HD, truTV HD, E! HD, BBC America HD and ShowTime HD. The first five on the list are available only on DISH Network as of this writing.

On second thought, I might actually take a look at the Sportsman HD channel from time-to-time, so I guess I am not completely uninterested in these latest editions to DISH Network’s high definition offerings.

It’s being reported that DirecTV, the largest satellite TV provider in the country, is suing DISH Network for “false advertising.”

It’s all due to some commercial advertisements that DISH Network has been using that claim they are offering the same programming that DirecTV does for $24 less per month. At least that’s what the suit claims. The DISH ads feature a slogan that asks, “Why pay more?”

I’m a little surprised by this news, since I constantly see competing advertisements on TV for various products and services that tell completely different stories. An excellent example would be the latest Verizon Wireless vs.. AT&T commercials.

If I am not mistaken, Verizon started the battle by featuring a map of their wireless coverage compared to AT&T’s, which, if the Verizon ads were to be believed, looked pretty pathetic compared to how they depicted their own network.

It didn’t take AT&T too long to fire back, claiming that their wireless network was much better than Verizon was claiming, and if course, while they were at it, they declared that AT&T’s wireless network was better.

Well, obviously someone is not telling the truth. These two companies are tearing each other up with claims that are completely contradictory, yet I am not hearing any reports of AT&T suing Verizon or vice versa.

As far back as I can remember, competing companies have used advertising that oftentimes shed a rather unflattering light on on another, but I don’t think they spent a lot of time suing each other. It seemed that was just the way the advertising game was played.

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Although Comcast claims the name change is being done to “promote the company’s digital technology prowess,” not everyone is convinced.

Some reports are suggesting that the company is changing its name in order to distance itself from its reputation for lousy customer service. Checking out “Comcast” on YouTube does not do much for the company’s image. The number one result is the infamous video of the sleeping Comcast technician who was supposed to be working on a problem in a customer’s home and would up falling asleep on the couch as he waited for a call from the company’s office.

As someone who is locked in as a Comcast customer due to their monopoly on broadband service in my area, I understand why they might want to ditch the old name and go for a massive mulligan. I genuinely hope that this change brings about better customer service, and more importantly, more realistic prices.

As it stands now, I pay about $8 a month more for my DISH Network service (with all the channels I want) than I do for my broadband connection. Naturally, I would pay less for the internet if I was a Comcast cable TV customer, but to me, that’s like saying that they value me less as a customer because I only want broadband.

Perhaps they don’t realize it, but that leaves a bad taste in a customer’s mouth, and in my case, as soon as another broadband option becomes available in my area, I’ll be saying “so long” to Comcast, or Xfinity or whatever other name they may be using at the time.

In the unlikely event that they actually improve customer service and bring prices more in line with reality, I may consider staying on as a customer as long as the service is reliable and the cost is competitive with whatever other options might come my way.

I won’t be holding my breath.

A few seconds later the green light also went out. I walked over to the unit and could hear it making the usual sounds it makes as it is being restarted. It attempted to restart itself three or four times until it finally seemed to stabilize and was OK for the rest of the evening. Thinking that there may have been some kind of urgent software update or something, or perhaps a technical glitch somewhere, I didn’t think too much more about it. Until last night.

Same story last night. This time I dialed up DISH Network right off the bat and got someone on the phone who tried to help me out. Problem was that the DVR just wouldn’t stay up long enough to do anything with. Just as she was walking me through some of the settings to check, it restarted itself again.

At that point, she decided it would be best to send me a new unit. She said they would ship it out ASAP and we can return the original DVR in the same box with a pre-paid label provided.

I had a pretty good hunch that the thing was on its way out, and I appreciated the fact that the support representative on the other end of the line did not treat me like a dope and have me trying all kinds of pointless tricks to make the thing work. The only thing we tried was unplugging the DVR from the power-surge protected power strip and directly into the wall. I was not surprised that it did not help.

After I hung up with DISH Network, the DVR managed to struggle back to its feet and seemed to be Ok for the time being. It restarted one more time a short time later but came right back up and seemed to work OK for the rest of the evening.

While I’m waiting for the new one to show up, I will go through my scheduled timers and make a note of all the programs I have set up to be recorded. I’d love to get the 8 recorded episodes of Planet Earth off of there and onto the new DVR when I get it, but I am not sure that’s possible and have not researched it yet. Heck, I can probably catch repeats of them some day. Could never bring myself to delete them.

Anyway, I was kind of hoping for a new model, but from what I can see when I log into my DISH Network account online, it looks like they will be sending me another 622. I was not even aware that they made them any longer.

I’ve had the unit about three years but it does get some pretty continuous use. I watch recorded programs on it just about every night and my wife records her share of programs as well. This is the first time we’ve had any serious issues with it.

Oh well, we’ll see what happens, and hope I can get through the next few days without too many restarts or a total failure.

I’m not much of a gamer myself, but I certainly recognize the name Tetris. I cannot swear to it, but I think I may have even played the game a few times a number of years ago.

Tetris is described as one of the most addictive video games in history and will probably result in a number of DISH Network subscribers being glued to their televisions playing the venerable video game favorite.

The availability of Tetris TV will allow DISH Network subscribers to play two versions of the game. The first being Marathon and the second one known as 40-Lines.

Marathon features 15 challenging levels of game play, and 40-Lines is a mad race to clear 40 lines as quickly as possible.

Coming with future releases of Tetris TV, subscribers will also be able to go head-to-head with other DISH Network subscribers by posting their names and scores up on national leader boards that will be managed by Oberon Media’s iTV community and service management technology, JIVE(R).

Oberon Media’s JIVE technology will allow for the management of Tetris tournaments in future releases. Tetris TV will take advantage of this technology by offering prizes to top players later in the year.

A special feature of this new addition is the airing of Centroamerica TV’s La Liga (Spanish soccer league) game of the week, which airs every Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Centroamerica TV is available in the U.S. only via satellite and can be found on DISH Network Ch. 832. The new channel comes at no extra charge to subscribers of DishLATINO Clasico and above programming packages. The channel will  provide Central Americans living in the United States with a solid connection to their home countries using informative and entertaining programming that includes "Viva la Manana" from Guatemala, "Hola El Salvador," "Noticias 12" from Nicaragua and "Telenoticias" from Costa Rica.

The channel will also air live soccer games each week and sports highlights programs like "El Pizarron Deportivo" from El Salvador, "Resumen Deportivo" from Costa Rica and "Gol a Gol," a thorough recap of the week’s highlights from La Liga.

"DISH Network is the leader in Spanish-language programming because we continue to bring new and exciting programming like Centroamerica TV to the wide variety of Latino communities in the U.S.," said Dave Shull, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network. "We are very pleased that the millions of Central Americans who live in the U.S. now have access to Centroamerica TV at a value unmatched by any other pay-TV provider in the country."

"We continue with our commitment to serve the Central American community in the U.S., and we are thrilled Centroamerica TV is now available through DISH Network’s DishLATINO suite of packages," said Antonio Briceno, general manager for Centroamerica TV and vice president of Distribution and Channels for Imagina U.S. "This reaffirms our standing as the leading channel for Central Americans living in this country."

It appears that the top satellite TV providers are not about to take this move lying down. In a rare spirit of cooperation, DISH Network and DirecTV have joined to file suit against Massachusetts, calling the new 5% tax “discriminatory.”

The state does impose a tax on cable TV companies and probably other utilities as well, since their lines have to be routed along streets and roads that are considered public property. The satellite companies believe ” and I agree ” that since they are not making use of public property, there are no grounds for the state to impose such a tax.

If the state of Massachusetts is going to start taxing the electromagnetic spectrum, they better figure out a way to start taxing people who watch or listen to any broadcast that is not carried by wires. Perhaps that can add a little bit onto their “excise tax” that all owners of motor vehicles have to pay (at least when I lived there) if the vehicle in question is equipped with a radio!

Apparently, greedy politicians in Florida, Ohio and Tennessee have imposed similar taxes on their residents. Legal action against those states is pending.

Hopefully, the courts will see the flawed logic behind these taxes and abolish them.

I suppose this is what we should expect from politicians when the economy tanks. People are losing their jobs and their homes and they decide to raise taxes. That will be a big help for a lot of struggling families, I’m sure.

Satellite companies like DISH go to great lengths to protect their signals with various types of encryption, but when someone figures out how to crack the code and receive programming for free, they sometimes share it with others who also end up risking prosecution if they are caught pirating a subscription channel.

The court held that the posting of pirating software code is a violation of the Federal Communications Act, and that statutory damages should be arrived at based on how many persons downloaded the pirating software. Considering the $51 million number, one heck of a lot of people must have downloaded that code!

These matters are taken very seriously and as one pirate who was foolish enough to advertise his illegal wares found out, $51 million is a pretty big number. Can’t imagine how the average Joe could pay that, but I sure wouldn’t want to have to figure out how!