Judge Keeps Aereo on the Air
Aereo Inc. can continue streaming TV to its subscribers for now, a federal judge decided Wednesday.
Broadcasters wanted a preliminary injunction to stop Aereo, which captures broadcast TV signals and sends them to users via the Internet. But U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan denied the request, noting that an injunction "may quickly mean the end of Aereo as a business," Reuters reported.
So, Aereo can continue with the $12-per-month service it's been providing to New York City since March, but it still has to face the broadcasters' copyright-infringement lawsuit. And broadcasters did demonstrate that Aereo has the potential to damage their business models, Nathan wrote in her decision.
Why this matters
It's been pretty obvious that an injunction would kill Aereo, as Colin Dixon of The Diffusion Group (TDG) noted to Light Reading Cable back in February.
The courts might still find that Aereo is violating copyright law or that it needs to get broadcasters' permission to stream their programming, but Aereo gets to stick around in the meantime.
For more
- Aereo's ISP Opportunity
- Who Are Aereo's Customers?
- Aereo Fights for Its Life
- Can Aereo Survive a Broadcaster Assault?
— Craig Matsumoto, Managing Editor, Light Reading
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