Really OT: Aereo

[Ron in SoCal]

Thought I’d share some thoughts and hopefully hear opinions from my Brothers…

Attached is a link for a current case before the Supreme Court: ABC vs. Aereo. You can read about it here:

http://news.yahoo.com/high-court-hea...165643801.html

I find the case very intriguing. In a nutshell, Aereo takes legal, government mandated free broadcast TV and makes it available for viewing via streaming or DVR style recording through a little PC based antenna. The Networks hate it. They call it stealing copyrighted content. Their position is their revenue model is based on advertising and this takes away eyeballs, ergo revenue. Aereo – backed by Barry Diller – claims they are taking free content that anyone can grab via an antennae, investing in infrastructure and services to provide a product to their customers. Make no mistake; this is not Napster where the courts held that people were in fact stealing copyrighted content and redistributed it for free. That technology ultimately broke big record label’s stronghold on the music industry, IMHO.

I see both sides of the case and am not the one to proclaim one side or the other in the right. What I do have an opinion on are two things:

• Although not the first, this is the most current and best example of technological innovation conflicting with outdated laws. The ‘system’ was not set up for this, nor could it have seen it coming. The Supreme Court may be in a precarious position if they rule against Aereo: this could have drastic implications for burgeoning Cloud Computing delivery options. I do not see this happening as a ruling could be limited to just Aereo, but it does open up a can of worms for future litigation.

• Big Cable, Big Satellite…bye bye. It’s been coming since Netflix and this is just another example of the future shaping right before our eyes. One day we’ll see the true convergence of TV and the internet and when that happens, when the next ‘killer app’ comes along (just as the iPhone did to crack-berry), the entire delivery system, revenue model and landscape will change.

Exciting times, but then again I could be wrong…