Aereo Slapped With 6-State Injunction By Federal Judge - 14 day Repreive - denied

[Don in CT]

If that happens, the broadcast towers get shutdown and we're soon paying $5-$10 monthly just to watch CBS. Bye-bye free OTA TV.

Comcast is starting a retransmission fee to pay for the OTA rates. Why should we have to pay for a free broadcast. This is nothing more than greedy networks losing out to Netflix and cable cutters trying to double dip. The FCC dropped the ball in letting the locals charge for their free signals.

 

[riffjim4069]

Comcast is starting a retransmission fee to pay for the OTA rates. Why should we have to pay for a free broadcast. This is nothing more than greedy networks losing out to Netflix and cable cutters trying to double dip. The FCC dropped the ball in letting the locals charge for their free signals.

You shouldn't....as long as you erect an antenna, you should have the option not to pay for them. But you also shouldn't be paying for ESPN, TNT and other cable channels you don't view, yet are part of your basic lineup. Also, if Comcast is charging a free for OTA locals, does this mean you can elect not to subscribe to them?

 

[Don in CT]

You shouldn't....as long as you erect an antenna, you should have the option not to pay for them. But you also shouldn't be paying for ESPN, TNT and other cable channels you don't view, yet are part of your basic lineup. Also, if Comcast is charging a free for OTA locals, does this mean you can elect not to subscribe to them?

This is where the OTA model falls apart now, they channels are not free as the locals have decided to charge a retransmission fee. Plus I believe they are still required as a part of basic cable.

 

[riffjim4069]

This is where the OTA model falls apart now, they channels are not free as the locals have decided to charge a retransmission fee. Plus I believe they are still required as a part of basic cable.

The broadcasters and cable channels are playing by the rules, but those rules are tipped in favor of the programmers and not consumers. Congress needs to update Cable, Telecommunications and Broadcast law to make it more consumer friendly, and fair for all competitors based on changed over the past 15-20 years. Fat chance of that happening!

 

[dfergie]

UPDATE: Aereo “Disappointed” With Denial Of Six-State Injunction Being Overturned

UPDATE, 10:38 AM: Unsurprisingly, Aereo is not happy with the denial today of its attempt to overturn the six-state injunction against the Barry Diller-backed service. “We are disappointed in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals 2:1 decision denying our request to stay the injunction in the 10th Circuit,” said spokesperson Virginia Lam Abrams today after the court’s order became public. “We believe that Aereo’s individual, cloud-based antenna and DVR technology falls squarely within the law and we look forward to presenting our case to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

deadline.com

 

[dfergie]

Aereo Can't Stop Utah Judge's Injunction

On Friday, a panel at the 10th Circuit announced that it had voted 2-1 against stopping the injunction in advance of a Supreme Court hearing. One judge at the federal appeals court indicated that he would have granted the motion.

hollywoodreporter.com

 

[mike123abc]

It will be an interesting Supreme Court ruling on the injunction.

 

[Tampa8]

Interesting because that decision would be an insight to the ultimate decision. If they uphold the injunction that would mean they feel Aereo is doing harm to the complainants pending an outcome. If that, I don't know how the concept would then be judged legal. If the injunction is abandoned, while not a clear indication, it at least means the Supreme court feels Aereo has a chance to win and the harm would more be to Aereo for an injunction than the complainants.

 

[Tampa8]

Things have gone from bad to worse for Aereo. The DOJ is against their business also and has briefed the Court. As brief summation;

It isn't individualized even though there are separate antennas, because all the signals are aggregated into one server.
When the private viewing law was approved, it was meant for a private person, not a company providing the content without consent even if the end result is a private viewer. (BIG NOTE - if Aereo is denied on this, cloud services that do not have content rights will be next because they would be storing then distributing content)

http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/04/us-department-of-justice-aereo-supreme-court-brief/

 

[mike123abc]

Things have gone from bad to worse for Aereo. The DOJ is against their business also and has briefed the Court. As brief summation;

It isn't individualized even though there are separate antennas, because all the signals are aggregated into one server.
When the private viewing law was approved, it was meant for a private person, not a company providing the content without consent even if the end result is a private viewer. (BIG NOTE - if Aereo is denied on this, cloud services that do not have content rights will be next because they would be storing then distributing content)

http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/04/us-department-of-justice-aereo-supreme-court-brief/

Cloud based DVRs have already passed through the courts successfully.

This is a very tricky case, and I would expect that the Supreme Court will rule that Aereo be allowed to operate until a verdict is reached. The Broadcasters really would have a hard time proving irreparable harm would come from a couple of years of Aereo service if it is proven illegal. Aereo of course would be irreparably harmed if they were to have the injunction until trial, they would have to cease operations.

The DOJ brief really does not make a lot of sense, it was probably lobbied by the broadcasters... Every part should be viewed as legal, we do not want to upset private antennas, cloud based server, and private viewing, but we still want Aereo to be illegal...

 

[riffjim4069]

The DOJs opinion comes as no surprise since it is based on three common sense interpretations of Copyright Law. Bottom Line: the government says AEREO is a commercial content provider and not an private customer (which they are) and they should pay to license broadcast programming, and AEREO's model uses shared services which is far from an individual end-to-end system. We shall see what happens...but it doesn't look good for the copyright thieves.

 

[dfergie]

When has he DOJ or the government shown they have common sense?

 

[Teehar]

When has he DOJ or the government shown they have common sense?

I know the answer!!

 

[primestar31]

I hate the term "common sense". It's a misnomer, because it doesn't exist. There is only "learned response".

You stick a hairpin in an electric socket, you just learned what happens. Provided you aren't dead, you now have "common sense" not to do that again! lol

Now, you read in the paper that somebody else stuck a hairpin in a socket and got turned into a crispy critter, and you can also learn from that without doing it yourself. Either way, you had to LEARN that through yours or another person direct experience, because nobody can know that from the womb.

 

[Teehar]

I hate the term "common sense". It's a misnomer, because it doesn't exist. There is only "learned response".

You stick a hairpin in an electric socket, you just learned what happens. Provided you aren't dead, you now have "common sense" not to do that again! lol

Now, you read in the paper that somebody else stuck a hairpin in a socket and got turned into a crispy critter, and you can also learn from that without doing it yourself. Either way, you had to LEARN that through yours or another person direct experience, because nobody can know that from the womb.

Well in that case,they didn't gain much learned responses.I also disagree about common sense,some people just know better ie their conscious kicks in.

 

[Peter Parker]

Good summary of where we are now

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/74484/lots-of-action-soon-in-scs-aereo-case/page/2

 

[Derwin0]

If that happens, the broadcast towers get shutdown and we're soon paying $5-$10 monthly just to watch CBS. Bye-bye free OTA TV.

They've (mostly Fox) been threatening that for many years and for different reasons.

The reasons they won't are because no network owns even half of it's affiliates. They affiliates will never shut down, they will just replace the network fare with something else or even a different network. And when a network decides to go cable only, bye bye goes their ratings. If Fox did it, they would just be another FX with similar ratings. Same for the others.

It's an empty threat and everyone knows it.

 

[Neutron]

Honestly I really don't need TV in our house. I'm getting tired of paying high cable bills and this is why I like the Aereo and Roku streaming. If they want to go this route and Aereo is forced to cease service we will just do without. There aren't that many good shows on any more and Fox is at the bottom with its crappy lineup.

 

[Blackloz]

Me personally, I could get buy with just Blu-Ray & OTA as all my keeper shows I purchase on BD & DVD anyway, so it would be just the throw aways that I would watch via OTA with a good TiVo. Now the wife on the other hand couldn't do that.

 

[Derwin0]

If it wasn't for sports, I'd probably get rid of cable, as most everything else I watch is on OTA.
Already have a couple Tivo's so the switch would be mostly seamless.