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Aereo Embraces Ruling, Tries To Re-Classify Itself As Cable Company

Posted by samzenpus on from the bend-like-the-broadcast-reed dept.

An anonymous reader writes Rather than completely shuttering its TV-over-the-internet business, Aereo has decided to embrace the Supreme Court's recent decision against it. In a letter to the lower court overseeing the litigation between the company and network broadcasters, Aereo asks to be considered a cable company and to be allowed to pay royalties as such. Cable companies pay royalties to obtain a copyright statutory license under the Copyright Act to retransmit over-the-air programming, and the royalties are set by the government, not the broadcasters. The broadcasters are not happy with this move, of course, claiming that Aereo should not be allowed to flip-flop on how it defines itself.

4 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. If it looks like a duck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Aereo to broadcasters: "quack".

    1. Re:If it looks like a duck by NotDrWho · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Maybe the broadcasters should have listened to Admiral Ackbar before they argued so persuasively that Aereo was a cable company.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  2. Simplified summary by cdrudge · · Score: 5, Funny

    So a simplified summary of the issue is:

    Aereo: We're not a cable company, we don't have to pay royalties.
    Networks: Yes you are, you have to pay us
    Aereo: No we aren't. Sue us.
    Networks: Ok
    Lower Courts:You're like a cable company.
    Aereo: Are you sure?
    SCOTUS: Yes.
    Aereo: Crap. We'll be a cable company and pay the royalties then.
    Networks: You're not a cable company
    Aereo: C'mon man!

  3. What about the ads by jandrese · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As I understand it, if they get classified as a cable company Aero will be legally allowed to put their own ads into the stream, overwriting the ads the original broadcaster put in there or maybe removing them entirely if they still want to be an entirely subscription driven service. They could really seriously piss off some OTA broadcasters with this approach.

    --

    I read the internet for the articles.