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Supreme court: Aereo is violating copyright law [pdf]

supremecourt.gov

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Re: Supreme court: Aereo is violating copyright law [pdf]

#31

Post by drzaiusapelord »

pgrote wrote: post #9

Justices Breyer, Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan were the majority. It isn't over since the case now goes back to the lower court, but Aereo can no longer argue they are the same as a person putting an antenna on their roof.

Its amazing that the left and the right can't agree on anything, not even it being illegal to lie on gun applications, but once IP is tossed in the game they all fall on some pretty strong protectionist postions.

I'm not making some big statement here, but it just goes to show that guys like Lawrence Lessig and the EFF keep losing because they have so few allies in government and have the most powerful enemies, the various deep-pocketing IP abusers like tech firms or Disney.

What now? Back to our DRM-laden lives with no silver lining I guess. Shame that the profit on mass entertainment trumps all rights. I wonder if my Slingbox is illegal now. Probably not, supposedly this decision is narrowly written, which is a welcome change from the big sweeping conservative-led majority decisions of late.

Re: Supreme court: Aereo is violating copyright law [pdf]

#32

Post by acheron »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #22
motbob wrote: post #12

The decision is limited to the question of whether Aereo violated the networks' "exclusive right" to "perform" their programs "publicly." The dissent (Scalia, Alido, and Thomas) believe that Aereo did not "perform" at all. They believe that when an Aereo subscriber logs in and clicks the play button, that the subscriber, not Aereo, is doing that performing. EDIT: Please note that the dissent would not have necessaril…

I'm reading the opinion now, and I would not have guessed that those particular justices would have made the ruling they did. Does anybody have insight into how this decision fits with the ideological views of the justices?

It's almost as if the justices are actual people with complex sets of knowledge, opinions, and interpretations rather than just your stereotypes!

Re: Supreme court: Aereo is violating copyright law [pdf]

#33

Post by untog »

cheez0r wrote: post #10

The Supreme Court is wrong- the reason cable companies are treated as a 'public' performance of a work is that their distribution medium is shared- any subscriber can tune into that broadcasting of that work over a shared common carrier where one copy of the work is transmitted and many subscribers can view it. Aereo is different in that it only transmits the signal captured to a single subscriber at a time, removing…

Aereo's setup is absurd. Placing hundreds if not thousands of identical antennas on a rooftop, capturing identical signals and sending them, individually, to users.

That's expensive and inefficient. The only reason they did it was to exploit a potential loophole in the current law - and now the Supreme Court has effectively closed that loophole.

Re: Supreme court: Aereo is violating copyright law [pdf]

#34

Post by snowwrestler »

I never liked the Rube-Goldbergian design of the Aereo system. It was clearly more complex than necessary, for the sole reason to try to find and fit through a loophole in the law.

To support that would set bad precedent, I think--both legally and technologically. Even if you hate copyright, I'd argue that this ruling is probably better in the long run because it clarifies the situation and the fight.

From that perspective I think the decision is essentially correct, although I'm sure it will be unpopular here.

However, I did read the syllabus, and there is some language in there referencing viewer participation in a public performance, that seems worrisome. But I'm not a lawyer, so I will be interested to see informed discussion of whether the specific legislation and precedents were applied correctly, and what implications were created by this decision.

Re: Supreme court: Aereo is violating copyright law [pdf]

#37

Post by Grue3 »

sheetjs wrote: post #30
Grue3 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, all the "liberal" judges? Sucks that the ones who usually defend human rights are also the same people who stifle innovation.

Describing Roberts as liberal is a great stretch

Pretty sure he's the one who "saved" Obamacare when it went to Supreme Court.

Re: Supreme court: Aereo is violating copyright law [pdf]

#38

Post by [deleted] »

cheez0r wrote: post #10

The Supreme Court is wrong- the reason cable companies are treated as a 'public' performance of a work is that their distribution medium is shared- any subscriber can tune into that broadcasting of that work over a shared common carrier where one copy of the work is transmitted and many subscribers can view it. Aereo is different in that it only transmits the signal captured to a single subscriber at a time, removing…

[deleted]

Re: Supreme court: Aereo is violating copyright law [pdf]

#39

Post by Alupis »

pgrote wrote: post #9

Justices Breyer, Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan were the majority. It isn't over since the case now goes back to the lower court, but Aereo can no longer argue they are the same as a person putting an antenna on their roof.

Can someone explain the gist of what's going on to an outside observer not familiar with Aereo?
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