After months of suspense, Aereo is dead.
The streaming service, which enables people within a set local region to stream and record video content that's freely broadcasted over the air, was shut down by the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision today. The high court ruled that Aereo was guilty of copyright infringement — thus handing a victory to major broadcast TV networks.
Justice Stephen Breyer, delivered the final court decision, “We must decide whether respondent Aereo, Inc., infringes this exclusive [copy]right by selling its subscribers a technologically complex service that allows them to watch television programs over the Internet at about the same time as the programs are broadcast over the air,” said Justice Breyer, “We conclude that it does.”
Aereo uses tiny antennas for each person that subscribes to its $8 monthly service. Big media companies that own broadcast TV stations (such as ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox) say access to the over-the-air content isn't free, and they have taken Aereo to court many times over the last year citing copyright infringement. The broadcasters think Aereo should pay licensing fees as well as damages for the time in which the service has operated without paying licensing fees.
The Supreme Court first heard the case in April. At the time Aereo was confident it would see victory over the behemoth broadcast media companies it was pitted against, due in large part to the repeated rulings by lower courts that agreed with Aereo’s logic. At the same time Aereo cofounder and CEO Chet Kanojia went on record stating that the service wouldn’t be able to survive if the high court ruled that Aereo was infringing upon copyrights.
This particular case was heavily watched by consumer advocates that agreed Aereo should have access to freely broadcasted content. But with Aereo now charged with copyright infringement, it gives the giant TV networks more authority over how those over-the-air broadcasts are used.
The court noted in its opinion that it doesn’t believe this decision will discourage the development of new technological innovation.
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