By now, most of you know about Aereo, the internet TV company that’s been delivering cheap programming to the masses via miniature antennae (and a fair bit of legal gymnastics). But now, a company designed (and named) to be the bane of Aereo’s existence, is making headlines itself.
Aereokiller has been in the news lately, but for a less auspicious reason than Aereo itself. Unlike the upstart they’re meant to destroy, Aereokiller lost its battle against the neworks’ request for an injunction.
According to a Variety report, U.S. District Judge George Wu disagreed with Alison Nathan’s much-discussed decision in the Aereo case and ruled that allowing users to tap into their own tiny antenna was tantamount to rebroadcasting and was a violation of the law. Variety quotes Wu as saying that the services of Aereokiller infringe upon the “exclusive right of public performance.”
By contrast, in July, Aereo successfully argued that it wasn’t distributing content at all, but rather providing users with the ability to access it on their own.
Though not in the way it had hoped, Aereokiller may be doing damage to its competitor after all. The decision to halt the company’s services means that – if Aereo tries to expand their operation outside of New York – they can expect to face an injunction.
This ruling was a huge victory for the status quo and for the networks. Despite all the saber rattling going on outside, they remain cozy inside their fortifications.
