[mythtv-users] aereo

R. G. Newbury newbury at mandamus.org
Mon Jun 30 13:58:00 UTC 2014


On 29/06/14 09:12 AM, airdrummer wrote:
> Eric Sharkey wrote:
>> On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 2:26 PM, airdrummer <air_drummer at verizon.net> wrote:
>>> Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
>>>> Aereo is engaging in a public performance
>>>
>>> well, aren't they offering access to content for profit?
>>
>> They claim to have been renting time on a DVR.  The customer got to
>> keep the recording they made with the rented DVR, but the charge was
>> not for the content, it was for the DVR rental.
>
> pure semantics...the customer gets access to content he would otherwise have to
> pay for; in effect a virtual venue that is using content to attract customers,
> exactly like a bar...

The customer got access to content which he would otherwise have 
received for FREE. It is an OTA broadcast, picked up at the aereo site 
and stored on a DVR there, then sent *by internet* to the customer's 
house when the customer wants to see it.

Gee, that's what I do at home! OTA broadcast recorded and play back at 
my leisure.

SCOTUS' decision is a logical nightmare. There is no actual delineation 
of what it takes to be a 'cable broadcaster'. But obviously it no longer 
requires a multi-cast setup, nor a *cable*.

For all intents and purposes, SCOTUS decided that, like porn, they can't 
define a cable co, but they know it when they see it.

To fix this, Congress will need to pass an amending bill, to actually 
define what is and isn't a cable distribution business. Given that the 
networks and mafiaa can give a golden shower to their favourite 
congress-critters, passage is not forecast.


-- 
              R. Geoffrey Newbury			



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