Aereo's Challengers To Be Heard By Supreme Court

Aereo, a television streaming company that utilizes over-the-air broadcasts, has been under fire from broadcasters that have initiated a legal battle against the startup. Late last year, the aforementioned broadcasters made it known that it would take the matter the Supreme Court, something that was granted today via an issued order in favor of the writ of certiorari petition.

The Supreme Court hearing is scheduled to take place this upcoming April, a time during which broadcasters composed of NBC, ABC, CBS, Disney, Fox, and other networks will plead their case against Aereo's services. The broadcasters' say that the startup's service is costing them in the revenue and retransmission fees, and it has previously taken on the company in lower courts.

In 2012, for example, the broadcasters lost a battle in a New York 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, where two of the three judges ruled in favor of Aereo, saying that the service wasn't infringing on the broadcasters' show copyrights. Aereo works via what amounts to an antenna-farm, where the subscribers are said to each lease a miniature antenna for a private performance of the over-the-air broadcasts, something that the company says allows it to avoid infringements charges.

Said Aereo's Founder and CEO Chet Kanojia: "This case is critically important not only to Aereo, but to the entire cloud computing and cloud storage industry. The landmark Second Circuit decision in Cablevision provided much needed clarity for the cloud industry and as a result, helped foster massive investment, growth and innovation in the sector. The challenges outlined in the broadcasters' filing make clear that they are using Aereo as a proxy to attack Cablevision itself and thus, undermine a critical foundation of the cloud computing and storage industry."

VIA: USA Today