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Exhibit 10.23 July 9, 2004 Mr. Mark Allen
c/o OpenTV, Inc.
275 Sacramento Street
San Francisco, California 94111 Dear Mark: I am pleased to offer you the position of Executive Vice President, reporting to me. You
shall have the rights, powers, duties and obligations relating to such office as are customarily
associated with such office and such other rights, powers, duties and obligations as we may agree
upon from time to time. Your principal place of work, subject to reasonable and customary travel,
shall be at OpenTV offices located in Tulsa, Oklahoma; provided, however, that you
shall work from OpenTV offices in San Francisco for four days a week for two weeks a month on
average, unless you are otherwise traveling on OpenTV business or on vacation, as approved by the
Chief Executive Officer. During the course of your employment with OpenTV you shall devote your full business time and
efforts to OpenTV; provided, that, nothing herein shall prevent you from (i) participating
in industry, trade, professional, charitable and community activities, (ii) serving on corporate,
civic or charitable boards or committees, and (iii) managing your personal investments and affairs,
in each case so long as such activities do not conflict with OpenTVs interests or interfere with
the performance of your responsibilities to OpenTV. Base Salary and Annual Bonus Your annual salary will be $425,000, which shall be paid to you in regular intervals in
accordance with OpenTVs customary payroll schedules for salaried employees, but in no event less
frequently than twice each month. For each of the calendar years in which you are employed by
OpenTV, you shall be eligible for annual discretionary bonus awards (the target amount of which
shall be established by the Compensation Committee (the Committee) of the Board of
Directors of OpenTV (the Board) prior to the commencement of any calendar year to which
it relates), based on financial and strategic objectives agreed to annually by the Committee. Your
discretionary bonus, if any, will be paid to you, at the option of the Committee, in a cash
payment, in shares of capital stock of OpenTV, or in a combination of cash and capital stock of
OpenTV. Your target bonus for 2004 is 35% of your annual salary, which may change in subsequent
years, as described above, within the discretion of the Committee, but such targeted bonus
percentage shall not be materially less than the target bonus percentages of other senior
executives of OpenTV at the same level. Such annual discretionary bonus awards shall be payable or
issuable, as applicable, as soon as practicable after the Committee can determine whether, and the
degree to which, such financial and strategic objectives have been reached, but in no event later
than any discretionary performance bonuses are paid to other senior executives of OpenTV. Stock Options In addition to stock options that have previously been granted to you, you will be eligible to
receive stock options under the OpenTV Corp. 2003 Incentive Plan (the Plan). Grants
under the Plan are discretionary and must be approved by the Committee. Termination If either: (i) OpenTV terminates your employment without Cause, as defined below, or (ii) you
resign your employment due to (x) a material reduction of your
duties and/or responsibilities with the result that a significant amount of your duties are inconsistent with
duties normally assigned to senior executives, or a material reduction in your base salary, or (y)
subject to the 1




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proviso in the last sentence of the first paragraph of this letter, a mandatory relocation of the
principal office at which you regularly work to a location more than 50 miles from the Tulsa,
Oklahoma area, then you will be entitled to the following:    a lump sum payment in an amount equal to the sum of (a) your base salary
through the date of termination, (b) vacation time not used as of the date of termination
to the extent that such vacation time has been accrued during the calendar year of
termination, calculated based upon your base salary at the date of termination, and (c)
business expenses reimbursable under this letter, in each case to the extent not
theretofore paid;    continuation of your base salary then effect, payable in accordance with
the normal payroll practices of OpenTV in effect on the date of termination, for a period
of twelve (12) months after the date of termination, unless the date of such termination is
within 12 months following the date of any Approved Transaction, Board Change or
Control Purchase (as such terms are defined in the Plan, and collectively referred to
herein as Change in Control), in which case the amount due to you pursuant to
this sub-paragraph shall be equal to 18 months of your then base salary, payable in
accordance with the normal payroll practices of OpenTV in effect on the date of
termination;    continued vesting of all options granted to you under the Plan through
the first anniversary of the date of your termination; provided, however,
that if a termination to which this paragraph applies occurs within 12 months after a
Change in Control (and the vesting of such options have not otherwise been accelerated
pursuant to the terms of the Plan), then, in such event, vesting of all options granted to
you under the Plan shall continue until the 18 month anniversary of the date of your
termination; and    all vested stock options held by you following the termination of your
employment with OpenTV pursuant to the first sentence of this paragraph (including any
stock options that vest following the date of termination pursuant to the immediately
preceding sub-paragraph above) shall remain exercisable for a period of 90 days following
the date on which the last options vest in accordance with the continued vesting provisions
of the immediately preceding sub-paragraph above (but not later than the scheduled
expiration of such stock option). If you intend to resign your employment as a result of a material reduction of your duties or
your base salary, you must notify OpenTV in writing. If OpenTV fails to cure or remedy your reason
for resignation within thirty (30) days of its receipt of your notification your resignation shall
be effective on the earlier of (i) the date OpenTV notifies you in writing of its determination not
to cure or remedy your reason for resignation or (ii) the thirtieth (30th) day following OpenTVs
receipt of your notification. OpenTV may terminate your employment for Cause at any time upon written notice of such
termination to you setting forth in reasonable detail the nature of such Cause. If OpenTV
terminates your employment for Cause, or you resign for a reason other than those stated in the
first paragraph under Termination above, then you will be entitled to a lump sum in an amount
equal to the sum of (i) your base salary through the date of termination, (ii) vacation time not
used as of the date of termination to the extent that such vacation time has been accrued during
the calendar year of termination, calculated based upon your base salary at the date of
termination, and (iii) business expenses reimbursable under this letter, in each case to the extent
not theretofore paid. In addition, upon termination of your employment by OpenTV for Cause, all
stock options granted to you, notwithstanding any prior vesting, shall immediately terminate. Solely for purposes of this letter, Cause shall be deemed to have occurred upon the
happening of any of the following: (A) the breach by you of any material provision of the Employee
Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreement, dated as of March 25, 2004 (the Employee
Inventions Agreement), a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A, (B) any breach by you
of any of the provisions set forth under the heading Noncompetition below, (C) your having been
charged with a 2




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felony under the laws of the United States or any state thereof (other than a traffic
violation), (D) your act of fraud, theft, embezzlement, other material act of dishonesty or any
material breach of fiduciary duty owed to OpenTV, (E) your willful failure to perform, or gross
neglect in the performance of, your duties and responsibilities to OpenTV (other than as a result
of illness or incapacity), and (F) your agreement to settle any charges brought against you by the
Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to any act or omission by you, which charges
involve an allegation of fraud or, in the good faith opinion of the Board, would reasonably likely
to have resulted in a conviction had the matter proceeded. Benefits; Vacation; Expenses You will have the right to participate in and to receive benefits from all present and future
life, accident, disability, medical, pension and savings plans and all similar benefits made
available generally to executives of OpenTV. The amount and extent of benefits to which you are
entitled shall be governed by the specific benefit plan, as it may be amended from time to time. You will be entitled to four weeks of paid vacation per year or such longer period as may be
provided by OpenTV. Such vacation shall be taken at such times and intervals as shall be
determined by you, subject to the reasonable business needs of OpenTV. You shall not be entitled
to defer more than two weeks vacation time not taken to a later calendar year. OpenTV shall pay or reimburse you promptly for all reasonable expenses and other disbursements
incurred or paid by you in the performance of your duties and responsibilities to OpenTV, including
those incurred or paid in connection with business related travel, telecommunications and
entertainment, subject to reasonable substantiation by you in accordance with OpenTVs policies. Noncompetition Covenant Not to Compete. During the period of your employment with OpenTV and ending upon the
first anniversary of the date of termination of your employment with OpenTV (the Restricted
Period), you agree that you will not, directly or indirectly, engage in, participate in, or
acquire an equity interest in any person, firm, corporation or other entity (a Person),
which engages or participates in any business that operates any line of business, business activity
or operations that are competitive with any line of business, business activity or operations
conducted by OpenTV during the Restricted Period (the Restricted Business). Exceptions to Covenant Not to Compete. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the restrictions set
forth in the immediately preceding paragraph shall not be applicable to:    any acquisition of an interest in a Person, which is engaged in a
Restricted Business so long as (x) you do not control (whether through the ownership of
voting securities, by contract or otherwise) such other Person and (y) the Restricted
Business conducted by such other Person does not constitute ten percent (10%) or more of
its business (as measured by its assets or revenues);    the acquisition of beneficial ownership (as defined in Rule 13d-3
promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) by you or any member of
your Immediate Family (as defined below) of an equity interest in any Person engaged in a
Restricted Business, so long as (i) such equity interest (A) is listed or traded on a
national securities exchange or the NASDAQ Stock Market and (B) constitutes less than five
percent (5%) of the outstanding equity interests of such Person and (ii) you are not
actively involved in the management of the business of such Person; the term Immediate
Family shall mean your spouse, parents, children, siblings, mothers and fathers-in-law,
sons and daughters-in-law, and brothers and sisters-in-law;    your engaging in or participating in the Restricted Business in
connection with your employment with OpenTV at the direction of the Board or the Chairman
of the Board; 3




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   situations where a termination of employment with OpenTV is (i)
terminated by you pursuant to clause (ii) of the first sentence under the paragraph
captioned Termination, or (ii) effected by OpenTV without Cause or for reasons unrelated
to performance, such as a result of a reduction in workforce; or    you being employed by or otherwise rendering services to Liberty Media
Corporation, any of its subsidiaries or controlled affiliates of any other person or entity
to which Liberty Media Corporation may consent. Territory for Covenant Not to Compete. You hereby acknowledge and agree that the Restricted
Businesses engaged in by OpenTV and its subsidiaries extends throughout the United States and in
other jurisdictions in which OpenTV conducts significant business activities (the Restricted
Territory) and that OpenTV and its subsidiaries may be harmed by competitive conduct anywhere
in the Restricted Territory. You therefore agree that the covenants contained in the provisions
under the heading Noncompetition shall be applicable in and throughout the Restricted Territory,
as well as throughout other areas of the world in which OpenTV and its subsidiaries may be (or have
prepared written plans to be) doing business from time to time. You further warrant and represent
that, because of your varied skill and abilities, you do not need to compete with OpenTV and its
subsidiaries in any Restricted Business, and that this letter will therefore not prevent you from
earning a livelihood. You acknowledge that the restrictions contained in the provisions under the
heading Noncompetition constitute reasonable protections for OpenTV and its subsidiaries in light
of the foregoing and in light of the consideration and promises to you contained in the letter. Arbitration of Claims You hereby acknowledge and agree that, except as provided below, all disputes concerning your
employment with OpenTV, the termination thereof, the breach by either party of the terms of this
letter or any other matters relating to or arising from your employment with OpenTV shall be
resolved in binding arbitration in a proceeding in San Francisco, California, administered by and
under the rules and regulations of the American Arbitration Association. Both parties and the
arbitrator will treat the arbitration process and the activities that occur in the proceedings as
confidential. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall limit OpenTVs right to seek equitable
relief in any court of competent jurisdiction in respect of the matters set forth in the
Noncompetition provisions above. Employment At Will By signing this letter, you understand and agree that your employment with OpenTV is at-will.
Therefore, your employment can terminate, with or without Cause, and with or without notice, at any
time, at your option or OpenTVs option, and OpenTV can terminate or change all other terms and
conditions of your employment, with or without Cause, and with or without notice, at any time, in
all cases subject to the other terms and conditions of this letter. This at-will relationship will
remain in effect throughout your employment with OpenTV Corp. or any of its subsidiaries or
affiliates. This letter, including the documents contained in Exhibit A, and any stock option
agreement between you and OpenTV, constitute the entire agreement, arrangement and understanding
between you and OpenTV on the nature and terms of your employment with OpenTV. This letter
supersedes any prior or contemporaneous agreement, arrangement or understanding on this subject
matter, except, subject to the third succeeding sentence, for any stock option agreement between
you and OpenTV. By executing this letter as provided below, you expressly acknowledge the
termination of any such prior agreement, arrangement or understanding. Also, by your execution of
this letter, you affirm that no one has made any written or verbal statement that contradicts the
provisions of this letter. In the event of any inconsistency between the terms contained in this
letter and the terms contained in any stock option agreement between you and OpenTV, the terms
contained in this letter shall control, such that the provisions regarding vesting or termination
contained in your stock option agreements shall be superseded by the provisions of this letter to
the extent of any conflict and the non-competition covenant contained in this letter shall also be
supersede the provisions of any other similar covenant contained in your stock option agreement to
the extent of any conflict. The at- 4




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will nature of your employment, as set forth in this paragraph, can be modified only by a
written agreement signed by both OpenTVs Chief Executive Officer and you which expressly alters
it. This at-will relationship may not be modified by any oral or implied agreement, or by any
policies of OpenTV, practices or patterns of conduct. We are enthusiastic about your continuing employment with us and the contributions you can
make to our executive management team and OpenTV. Please retain the original offer letter for your
records and return the signed copy and required documents to me. Sincerely, OPENTV, INC. By:/s/ Jim Chiddix
Name: Jim Chiddix
Title: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Signature of Acceptance: /s/ Mark H. Allen
Mark Allen 5