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Fox files for New Dish Network hearing in Hopper ad-zapping case
MUMBAI: Despite another rejection last month of its last attempt to pull the plug on Dish Network‘s Hopper, 21st Century Fox is stepping back into the legal fray in its battle against the ad-jumping DVR service. The broadcaster filed a brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this week requesting a brand new review of the 24 July ruling to be heard by all the court‘s judges. The previous ruling shut down Fox‘s aim for an injunction against the Hopper.
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For Fox, that was an error and raised the stakes even higher. “The panel announced two unprecedented rules of law that threaten the creation and licensing of television shows, movies, books, software, or other copyrighted content,” said the August 7 filing.
With this latest request, Fox may have reached the point where they are now truly grinding away in this satcaster case. Last month‘s ruling in Dish‘s favor rebuffed Fox‘s notion that letting viewers essentially erase the ads in TV shows was a fatal blow to the broadcast industry‘s business model.
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The late July ruling came out an appeal by the broadcaster after a previous District Court ruling in November of 2012 ended up in the satellite service provider‘s favor. Then US District Court Judge Judge Dolly Gee refused to block sales of the Hopper, even though she agreed with Fox that Dish has likely committed copyright infringement. Introduced in May of last year by Dish, the service lets subscribers to leap past commercials in programs that have been recorded off network TV the day before. CBS, NBC and Fox all filed copyright infringement suits almost immediately against Dish to get the service stopped.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
