The Aereo Debate Hits the Supreme Court


TV on the InternetWhile most of you are probably not yet familiar with the obscure Internet start-up Aereo, thanks to some very noisy broadcasting executives, you will be soon. The company debuted in 2012 with an innovative new way to watch your favorite free television programming without the need for a cable provider or giant rabbit ear antennas. Immediately after, they were met with opposition from ABC, CBS, NBC and other major broadcasters who claim that Aereo is subject to the same fees paid by cable and satellite firms to broadcast their shows. The case, ABC Inc. v. Aereo, No. 13-461, hit the Supreme Court this week and is generating some very heated debate regarding the notion of free broadcasting.

Aereo1Aereo uses small HDTV antennas to receive broadcast channels and capture programming, which is then placed on servers. Subscribers can then access this programming through the internet, without needing to buy or install anything to utilize the service. Devices like the iPhone and iPad, Android phones and tablets, and even Apple TV and the Roku can then stream these over-the-air broadcast television channels. Even better, Aereo’s remote DVR allows you to schedule recordings from your phone to watch later; or, if you’d rather, tune in from a mobile device until you get home then switch right to your TV without missing a beat. All this is made possible by an antenna so small it fits on the tip of your finger – a far cry from the 3-foot-tall rabbit ears and rake-sized roof antennas of the past. An added bonus? After a 30-day free trial, Aereo’s service is only $8 per month for 20 hours of DVR space, or $12 per month for 60 hours of DVR space and the ability to record two shows at once – far cheaper than even the most basic of cable plans, and still offering nearly three dozen channels including CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX and PBS. As you’ve probably noticed, the only channels listed are ones that you can already get for free with the aforementioned “bunny ears” and an HDTV tuner; paid channels like HBO and FX are not an option with the service. So what is all the fuss about?

Aereo3A handful of network giants like Twentieth Century Fox, PBS and ABC, to name a few, claim that Aereo’s method counts as rebroadcasting and is therefore prohibited by law, and in 2012 filed a lawsuit to sue the start-up for copyright infringement. Aereo countered that it had installed enough antennas so that there is a physical one available for every single subscriber at any given time. After hearing both sides this week, even the Supreme Court is at a loss as to what the precedent set by the decision in any direction will mean for the future of technologies like cloud computing. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. stated on Tuesday that Aereo’s technological model was “based solely on circumventing legal prohibitions that you don’t want to comply with”. Broadcasters claim that the billions of dollars in retransmission fees that they receive from cable and satellite companies to retransmit their programming is so vital that they would consider removing their signals from the airwaves altogether if the courts were to rule in favor of Aereo. Aereo’s lawyer, David C. Frederick, argued that the company simply allows subscribers to rent the necessary equipment to make their own copies of over-the-air television programs – tricky territory, and one without an easy answer in sight. Needless to say the decision, which should be issued in June of this year, will have a broad impact on the future of other innovations as well as possibly redefine areas of copyright law. While Supreme Court hearings are nothing if not tediously long, yawn-inducing events, the outcome of this one will be one to watch for.

Topics: Technology News Gadgets & Peripherals Inventions & Innovations

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