Broadcasters petitioned the Supreme Court on Friday to shut down Aereo, a service that streams over-the-air programming to Internet-connected devices.
With Aereo, people can view live, local televisions broadcasts through the device, as well as record programming in a cloud-based DVR to watch later. Broadcasters claim that the device violates their copyrights and have now asked the Supreme Court to help in their fight.
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On Thursday, a federal judge issued a ruling in the case between Hearst and Aereo, denying Hearst its request for an injunction against the company.
After that ruling, Aereo CEO and founder Chet Kanojia issued the following statement:
Today’s decision, coupled with the decisions in favor of Aereo in the Southern District of New York (July 11, 2013) and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (April 1, 2013 and July 16, 2013), shows that when you comply not only with the letter, but the spirit of the law, justice will prevail. Today’s victory belongs to the consumer, and today’s decision makes clear that that there is no reason that consumers should be limited to 1950s technology to access over-the-air broadcast television. Using Aereo, a consumer can simply and easily use an individual remote antenna and cloud DVR via the Internet to record and watch over-the-air programs.
The Supreme Court receives close to 10,000 petitions each year and selects roughly 1% of those to hear.
Image: Aereo