Advanced Television

Aereo launches advocacy site

April 17, 2014

By Colin Mann

Internet TV streaming service Aereo has launched an educational and advocacy site – ProtectMyAntenna.org – that aims to provide basic information about the operation and the legal claims before the Supreme Court. The site also features court briefs, amicus briefs and court decisions.

Chet Kanojia, Founder and CEO has written to customers explaining the site’s launch and Aereo’s beliefs in advance of the April 22 Supreme Court hearing. The text of the letter is reproduced below.

Standing up for Innovation, Progress and Technology, Continued

 

Last December, we agreed to the broadcasters’ request to seek review of their claims by the United States Supreme Court. We made that decision because we wanted their claims against Aereo resolved on their merits, rather than through a wasteful war of attrition.

On April 22, Aereo will present our case to the United States Supreme Court. We remain steadfast in our conviction that Aereo’s cloud-based antenna and DVR technology falls squarely within the law. We have every hope and confidence that the Court will validate and preserve a consumer’s right to access local over-the-air television using an individual antenna, make a personal recording with a DVR, and watch that recording on a device of their choice.

Much has been written about Aereo and its technology, as well as the Supreme Court case. Many of you have reached out to us asking for more information and ways to help the company.

Today, we are launching a website, that provides you with some basic information about Aereo and the legal claims before the Supreme Court.rotectMyAntenna.org, you’ll find court briefs, amicus briefs and court decisions related to the Supreme Court case. You can also sign up for updates to stay in touch with the Aereo team.

What is at stake in this case is much bigger than Aereo. We believe that consumers are entitled to use a modern, cloud-based, version of an antenna and DVR and that consumers should not be constrained to 1950’s era technology to watch free-to-air broadcast television. The broadcasters’ positions in this case, if sustained, would impair cloud innovation and threaten the myriad benefits to individuals, companies, and the economy at large of the advances in cloud computing and cloud storage. Several amicus briefs including those from CCIA and Mozilla, Public Knowledge, the Consumer Electronics Association and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, directly address these issues.

We hope you’ll find ProtectMyAntenna.org useful. Sign up for updates and spread the word!

Thank you for your continued support. It means a great deal to all of us at Aereo.

Yours truly,

Chet Kanojia

Founder & CEO

 

 

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Content, FTA, OTT, OTT, Piracy, Policy, Regulation, Rights