By Joan E. Solsman, CNET, June 25, 2014
The US Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Aereo, a 2-year-old startup that relies on tiny antennas to stream broadcast television over the Internet, is illegal.
In a 6-3 decision, the court concluded that Aereo, whose technology grabs over-the-air TV signals without the company paying broadcasters any fees, is effectively the same as the very first cable companies but with fancier technology.
"Behind-the-scenes technological differences do not distinguish Aereo's system from cable systems," Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the majority, said in the 35-page ruling. "Congress would as much have intended to protect a copyright holder from the unlicensed activities of Aereo as from those of cable companies."
Aereo is thus publicly performing copyrighted works. And that means it owes money to the broadcasters, who had argued that the startup was stealing their programming. Cable and satellite companies pay billions in fees for the right to retransmit programming on broadcast television -- the most-watched channels in the country -- and some networks said they would have moved their shows onto paid cable channels from free over-the-air signals if Aereo had won.
[snip]Aereo had argued that a decision against it could endanger a copyright premise essential to the broader cloud-computing industry: private versus public performance. The cloud- computing industry built itself on the idea that streaming services are abiding by copyright law so long as the streamed work was originally obtained legally and is delivered at the request of an individual to that individual in private.
Continued:
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"...so long as the streamed work was originally obtained legally..."
Well, wasn't that the whole point of the Broadcaster's lawsuit?
Neal McLain