US Supreme Court to hear case against Aereo

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal filed by broadcasters against Aereo. 

ABC, CBS, NBC Universal and Fox have appealed a decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April that denied their request to shut down Aereo while litigation moves forward. 

Aereo, which takes free to air TV signals and sends them over the Internet to subscribers, does not pay a retransmission fee. 

Broadcasters, however, want the company to pay them a fee, like cable and satellite service providers do. If TV subscribers use Aereo instead of the other service providers, then broadcasters could lose revenue. 

Aereo CEO, founder Chet Kanojia said, “We said from the beginning that it was our hope that this case would be decided on the merits and not through a wasteful war of attrition. We look forward to presenting our case to the Supreme Court and we have every confidence that the Court will validate and preserve a consumer’s right to access local over-the-air television with an individual antenna, make a personal recording with a DVR, and watch that recording on a device of their choice. 

“This case is critically important not only to Aereo, but to the entire cloud computing and cloud storage industry. The landmark Second Circuit decision in Cablevision provided much needed clarity for the cloud industry and as a result, helped foster massive investment, growth and innovation in the sector. The challenges outlined in the broadcasters’ filing make clear that they are using Aereo as a proxy to attack Cablevision itself and thus, undermine a critical foundation of the cloud computing and storage industry. 

“We believe that consumers have a right to use an antenna to access over-the-air television and to make personal recordings of those broadcasts. The broadcasters are asking the Court to deny consumers the ability to use the cloud to access a more modern-day television antenna and DVR. If the broadcasters succeed, the consequences to consumers and the cloud industry are chilling. 

“We remain unwavering in our confidence that Aereo’s technology falls squarely within the law and our team will continue to work hard to provide our consumers with best-in-class technology that delights and adds meaningful value to their lives.”

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/international-news/item/4062-us-supreme-court-to-hear-case-against-aereo.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/international-news/item/4062-us-supreme-court-to-hear-case-against-aereo.html