{"id":660133,"date":"2013-05-24T14:07:25","date_gmt":"2013-05-24T18:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paidcontent.org\/?p=229904"},"modified":"2013-05-24T14:07:25","modified_gmt":"2013-05-24T18:07:25","slug":"fight-over-tv-streaming-heats-up-as-broadcasters-file-new-lawsuit-in-washington-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/660133","title":{"rendered":"Fight over TV streaming heats up as broadcasters file new lawsuit in Washington DC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Major broadcasters filed a new lawsuit this week as part of an ongoing efforts to shut down services like Aereo that stream over-the-air TV to computer and mobile devices.<\/p>\n

In a complaint filed Thursday, the broadcasters — ABC, Fox, NBC, Allbritton Communications and Telemundo — asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to issue an injunction to stop the service known as Aereokiller from streaming their shows.<\/p>\n

Aereokiller, which is available from the website FilmOn<\/a>, is operated by Alki David, a billionaire who chose the name to tweak Aereo, thehigh profile streaming service backed by media mogul Barry Diller. Here’s a closer look at Aereokiller streaming a live show on NBC:<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n

“It’s nonsense,” David said by phone of the lawsuit. “Since 2010, we\u2019ve been arguing that Filmoon is a virtual cable platform and that we want to pay\u00a0retransmission\u00a0fees.”<\/p>\n

The new lawsuit is important because it’s part of a great game between the broadcast TV industry and Diller over how and when consumers can watch TV. Aereo won a major victory<\/a> in April when an appeals court in New York ruled that the service did not infringe copyright because its tiny antenna technology<\/a> delivers a private stream — rather than a public broadcast — to each subscriber.<\/p>\n

Aereo’s victory, however, only carries force in New York, Connecticut and Vermont. And its prospects for expansion have been seriously\u00a0undercut as a result of a California judge’s decision<\/a> to shut down Aereokiller on the entire west coast.<\/p>\n

The latest lawsuit, then, is part of the TV industry’s effort to gain more ammunition ahead of a likely Supreme Court challenge. The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported<\/a> the story, suggests that the broadcasters likely chose to go after Aereokiller because it is an easier target than Aereo.<\/p>\n

Aereo, meanwhile, is going live in Boston<\/a> this month. CBS has threatened to sue it there too but has yet to make good on the promise. You can read the DC complaint for yourself here:<\/p>\n

DC complaint against Aereokiller<\/a><\/p>\n