While I dont like this ruling, I can see where the court is coming from. Aereos idea is cool, yes, but they are basically doing what cable broadcasters do - retransmitting content to viewers on a schedule. Cable providers have to license that content, so it makes sense that Aereo would have to license it as well. I see Aereos point that customers could do exactly what Aereo is doing themselves by setting up an antenna, but cable companies do exactly the same thing by including network channels in their lineup and they have to pay for that content - so it seems fair that Aereo would as well. More than anything, I believe this whole case (pun intended) makes it clear how horribly broken and backward the current broadcast system is. The simple truth is that middle men in the media industry are largely unneeded now. Game publishers, music studios like BMG, and network and cable companies simply dont have a place in the modern distributed media world. These old world companies need to adapt their business model or die.* * I understand that copyright is an extremely important issue; artists need assurance that their hard work is not stolen. The truth is, however, that most artists do not actually own the copyrights to their creations - game publishers and studios like Lionsgate or BMG do. If artists owned the copyrights to their art this would be a very different world.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 15:20:51 +0000