Thursday, July 12, 2012

Aereo wins "first round" in its case

http://paidcontent.org/2012/07/11/diller-and-aereo-win-first-round-injunction-denied/

Aereo, a bold bid to transmit television via broadband using tiny off-site antennas, won a major victory in federal court Wednesday when a judge denied the plaintiffs’ demand for a preliminary injunction blocking the service from allowing timeshifting during a live broadcast.

The judge found that Aereo’s method of enabling individuals to control viewing and recording from their PCs or mobile devices was covered by an earlier appellate decision. (Full ruling embedded below.)


IAC Chairman Barry Diller, an investor in the startup, has
insisted all along that Aereo is legal because the antennas are leased to subscribers who control them. After the ruling, he told the New York Times: “I did think we were on the side of the angels…certainly for consumers — good to see the judge saw it that way.”

The plaintiffs, including Fox, Tribune Company, PBS, and Univision, quickly issued a statement of their own, promising to appeal:
Today’s decision is a loss for the entire creative community. The judge has denied our request for preliminary relief – ruling that it is ok to misappropriate copyrighted material and retransmit it without compensation. While we are disappointed, we will continue to fight to protect our copyrights and expect to prevail on appeal.   ....more


Remember though this is just "the preliminary injunction" basically this means that the judge found.....there is a case here to be made by both parties and its worth the time to hear both sides of the argument.

It doesnt mean Aereo has won and we will see tv online everywhere, it just means...break out your check book boys this is going to get expensive on both sides.