New York-based Aereo has filed a countersuit against broadcasters, reports Reuters. Broadcasters including ABC, CBS Corp, NBC Universal and Telemundo sued Aereo, seeking an injunction to stop its alleged plan to retransmit their channels without permission.
The countersuit is in response to two groups of broadcasters who filed two separate federal lawsuits against Aereo in the Southern District of New York, claiming that the start-up service will infringe their copyrights.
“Aereo’s business rests on three very well established legal principles: the consumers’ right to access broadcast television, their right to record unique copies of broadcasts for personal use and their right to use remotely located equipment to make their private copies. We firmly believe that Aereo’s technology is lawful. We are confident in the legal process, and we look forward to a prompt resolution of these meritless lawsuits,” the company said in an email statement sent to Broadband TV News.
Barry Diller, one of the backers of the new service, expects Aereo to be in 75 to 100 cities within a year after making its debut this week in New York. Diller said efforts to block the service are “absolutely predictable,” because media companies always try to protect their turf. “I completely understand their motivation,” he said. “It’s going to be a great fight.”
The fledgling Aereo service aims to provide multiscreen access and PVR functionality for viewers in the New York area. In order to achieve these features, Aereo has installed an array of miniature antennas, which pick up the free-to-air signals from all local broadcasters. When people subscribe they each get a single antenna dedicated to them plus a remote PVR attached to it. Via their broadband connection, they will be able to access antenna and PVR. (See Broadband TV News passim for the full story)
