DISH Reaches Long Term Agreement with DISNEY / ESPN / ABC

[jrbdmb]

Nope, no difference. It's a case of first impression related to novel use of technology to deliver a long standing product and existing law isn't specific enough for a decision without trial and interpretation. So right now it's in limbo, neither clearly legal or clearly illegal. So no big difference (contrary to what you state).

In fact, since Aereo is new it really needs a favorable verdict sooner than the established deep pocket networks need one. I can see the networks drag this on for as long as possible in the hope that the uncertainty will starve the startup of 1) investors in the business and 2) customers willing to adopt a novel and perhaps illegal service. Without enough of either of those Aereo goes under and the networks win by default.

As a bonus to the networks, the longer they can litigate this, the longer they can delay others from adopting this model and cutting off a revenue stream of theirs (much like the direct not implementing their own version of autohop while the current litigation is pending).

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I am not that familiar with Aereo, so I am curious how they are taking local TV signals, retransmitting them to subscribers for a fee, and somehow not having to pay the local stations for those signals. Certainly if Dish and Comcast are forced to negotiate retransmission fees, I can't see an angle Aereo could use to bypass those same fees.

In many cases Dish / DTV use an OTA antenna to acquire local channel signals, which to me makes them the same as Aereo except for the final delivery method (satellite vs. internet).

 

[ronjohn]

I am not that familiar with Aereo, so I am curious how they are taking local TV signals, retransmitting them to subscribers for a fee, and somehow not having to pay the local stations for those signals. Certainly if Dish and Comcast are forced to negotiate retransmission fees, I can't see an angle Aereo could use to bypass those same fees.

In many cases Dish / DTV use an OTA antenna to acquire local channel signals, which to me makes them the same as Aereo except for the final delivery method (satellite vs. internet).

The other providers use an antenna, or array of antenns, and collect the broadcast signals. They then have a signal that they re-transmit to their subscribers.

According to Aereo: Aereo has an individual antenna for each subscriber. They rent the antenna to the subscriber and transmit the signal from that individual antenna to the individual subscriber. They do not collect the broadcast in one signal and then stream that signal to all subscribers. Their contention is that they rent the antenna to the subscriber and then use the internet to connect the subscriber to his individual antenna.

 

[jrbdmb]

The other providers use an antenna, or array of antenns, and collect the broadcast signals. They then have a signal that they re-transmit to their subscribers.

According to Aereo: Aereo has an individual antenna for each subscriber. They rent the antenna to the subscriber and transmit the signal from that individual antenna to the individual subscriber. They do not collect the broadcast in one signal and then stream that signal to all subscribers. Their contention is that they rent the antenna to the subscriber and then use the internet to connect the subscriber to his individual antenna.

Thanks. I had found similar info from a NYTimes article a few minutes ago.

And IMHO this "technology" is absolutely just a way to circumvent copyright law and will be struck down either by the courts or by Congress. Sooner or later Aereo will be paying retransmission fees as well.

 

[ronjohn]

Thanks. I had found similar info from a NYTimes article a few minutes ago.

And IMHO this "technology" is absolutely just a way to circumvent copyright law and will be struck down either by the courts or by Congress. Sooner or later Aereo will be paying retransmission fees as well.

I do not see it as a circumvention of copyright. I believe Aereo is similar to Cabelvision's remote DVR. The courts found that with the remote DVR, Cablevision is not retransmitting because there is an individual recording for each individual subscriber. The subscriber has to set a recording, and only that subscriber has access to that file on Cablevision's server. They do not record a show one time and stream that single file to multiple subscribers. Each Aereo subscriber has a single antenna that they have access to, and no other subscriber has access to their antenna.

I doubt that it will be struck down by courts. Aereo makes an anology to the internet connection. If they had an antenna and ran a coaxial cable from the antenna to the subscriber, then they would not be re-transmitting, only connecting the subscriber to the antenna. They are only replacing the copper coax with the internet.

I do think that the broadcast industry will lobby congress to get the law changed to make this exact thing illegal. They have threatened to take all of their "valuable" programming off of OTA and put it all on paid cable. I think that that would probably be the best outcome. If OTA is a money loser for broadcasters, then they should stop broadcasting and give the frequencies back to the government. Those frequencies could then be used for more needed modern services.

 

[PortlandChris]

I am not that familiar with Aereo, so I am curious how they are taking local TV signals, retransmitting them to subscribers for a fee, and somehow not having to pay the local stations for those signals. Certainly if Dish and Comcast are forced to negotiate retransmission fees, I can't see an angle Aereo could use to bypass those same fees.

In many cases Dish / DTV use an OTA antenna to acquire local channel signals, which to me makes them the same as Aereo except for the final delivery method (satellite vs. internet).

With Aereo the customer "leases" a dedicated antenna. That's it.

I can put an antenna on my house that I own and watch "free" TV. So following that theory, why can't I rent an antenna and do the same? And then use a cloud storage device to store my recordings - and then finally, use the internet, or other method to transmit my own recording for my own personal use.

Compare this with renting a house - I am renting the house and the antenna. Why is this any different?

 

[PortlandChris]

What makes you think the Supreme Court will make aero legal?

Because all the customer is doing is renting an antenna and then using the internet to stream the content to himself.

Without a new law written by Congress it will be difficult to overcome existing precedent (Sony Betamax case in the early 1980s) that allows a customer to record a broadcast solely for his own personal use.

 

[Juan]

Hopefully this will be resolved soon and this thread will be a distant memory

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[satjay]

Yea the thread has had some peeks and valleys for sure

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[Blackloz]

If the Supreme Court rules it as legal then the networks are up a creek without a paddle. Cable/Satellite/IPTV providers may decide to roll their own solution similar to what Aereo does for their markets and tell the networks to shove their retransmission fees.

. One can only hope.

 

[bellevuecoug]

Yea the thread has had some peeks and valleys for sure

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This thread runs wild. Like Mickey Mouse on a bender.

 

[Tampa8]

This is why Aereo is nowhere near cleared legally.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/10th-circuit-court-agrees-to-weigh-aereo-case/

 

[Bobby]

This thread runs wild. Like Mickey Mouse on a bender.

Back when I was in Jr. High, I was on the projector team. I carted around a projector and film to show to classes. This is one of my very favorites:

 

[Juan]

This is why Aereo is nowhere near cleared legally.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/10th-circuit-court-agrees-to-weigh-aereo-case/

dude..it not illegal..till a court says it is....now filmon.com is probably illegal..they have distant networks in a HD format

 

[PortlandChris]

As pointed out, Aereo has not been judged legal yet, only that staying in operation until a judgement does not harm the networks. It is a good sign for Aereo but certainly not the same as done deal.

Slingbox does not just allow for recorded material, it provides live programs.

How is it different? If I am a Network I am going to say because the antenna is not at your property, and that the programming is copyrighted only to be distributed by people who pay us. Aereo in affect is distributing our material.
I'm not saying that will or will not win in Court, but there is a difference. Question is, is it enough of a difference to stop Aereo.

Part of the problem is that the industry declined to challenge the Slingbox when it was introduced about a decade ago. They really would have a difficult, if not impossible, ability a decade after technology to establish it is illegal.

I disagree with your theory on Aereo. I am taking MY content and showing it to myself. No different from a VCR, where I take my content and show it to myself. The difference? I rent an antenna and employ a cloud storage device off site. Is that a deal breaker? I hardly doubt it.

At the real root of all of this - the auto hop technology.

It's really just a convergence of all these (former) separate technologies rolled into one.

 

[Juan]

This is why Aereo is nowhere near cleared legally.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/10th-circuit-court-agrees-to-weigh-aereo-case/

here's the real problem..its not putting local channels on the internet..http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/tv-broadcasters-looking-aereo-dish-432748

 

[sam_gordon]

As pointed out, Aereo has not been judged legal yet, only that staying in operation until a judgement does not harm the networks. It is a good sign for Aereo but certainly not the same as done deal.

Slingbox does not just allow for recorded material, it provides live programs.

How is it different? If I am a Network I am going to say because the antenna is not at your property, and that the programming is copyrighted only to be distributed by people who pay us. Aereo in affect is distributing our material.
I'm not saying that will or will not win in Court, but there is a difference. Question is, is it enough of a difference to stop Aereo.

I generally side with the broadcasters, but not with Aereo. I don't think there's anything that says an antenna has to be at your property. As far as "programming only distributed by people who pay us", Slingbox has been legal right? So using my antenna and slingbox at home, I can stream the signal over the internet. That's what Aereo is doing. Granted, you're leasing instead of owning the antenna and streaming hardware, but I don't think that's enough of an argument to make Aereo illegal.

I also think we're YEARS if not decades away from Aereo technology being nationwide. As I pointed out earlier, not everyone has the bandwidth, much less internet itself to support it. I'm willing to wager there will still be people who want satellite/cable delivered locals.

Has anyone here seen or actually talked to an Aereo subscriber? What is the picture quality like? How many folks here complain about non-HD signals, but a streaming service will be OK?

 

[david_jr]

Does Aereo really erect one antenna per subscriber? That alone seems fishy to me.

 

[navychop]

Each antenna is the size of a dime.

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[bellevuecoug]

Does this Aereo discussion belong here? If someone were looking for info on this or wanted to chime in, would a thread on an ESPN / Dish deal be the place to go?

Where oh where are the mods? Hello? Mods?

 

[Yespage]

Does this Aereo discussion belong here? If someone were looking for info on this or wanted to chime in, would a thread on an ESPN / Dish deal be the place to go?

Where oh where are the mods? Hello? Mods?

There has been little else that hasn't been discussed in this thread. Aereo was pretty much all that was left to discuss that hasn't been hammered on in the previous 2600+ posts. I think somewhere in the 700's posters found a cure for cancer, in the 1200's came to a consensus over a Middle East peace deal, 1700's developed a viable American model for a la carte programming, and 2300's created a new Hopper app for bluegras to use to request channels.

We simply have run out of ways of asking "Is a deal done yet?"