A Tiny Antenna that is Threatening the TV Networks’ Airspace

A Whole New Technology for A Whole New World

 A tiny new technology is definitely getting all the attention you can imagine, and as tiny as it is, its case is in the supreme court already and it might be the hero we've always been expecting. It's an antenna!

Aereo is a whole new technology allows subscribers to view live as well as time-shifted streams of over-the-air television on Internet-connected device. The creator, Chet Kanojia's has figured out how to grab over-the-air television signals and stream them to subscribers on the Internet.

For a monthly subscription that starts at $8, Aereo allows subscribers to watch or record broadcast television through the Internet on any device, small or large, no wires or cable boxes required. It does this by assigning each consumer a remote antenna and a DVR.

 To entertainment companies, this is cheating. Copyright law lets individuals watch anything they pick up by antennas as long as it is for their private use, but the broadcasters say Aereo’s transmissions constitute a “public performance” that requires Aereo to pay for retransmitting them. Aereo, they claim, is violating copyright and stealing their content. 

The networks’ concern goes beyond Aereo. If the streaming service wins in court, networks fear that the cable and satellite companies that currently pay them huge retransmission fees might follow Aereo’s lead, a situation broadcasters say would destroy their bottom line.

Mr. Kanojia says he is positive the Supreme Court will rule in his favor. “I can’t imagine they won’t be on the side of innovation,” he says, “cloud-based innovation, in particular, because it is so consumer-friendly.”

 “This is the first battleground for the next 50 years of how copyright is going to extend or apply to the Internet and the cloud,” he said in a recent interview at Aereo’s cramped headquarters on lower Broadway.

 Excerpts from nytimes.com