Here’s a letter sent to consumers 7/1 from Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia, regarding ProtectMyAntenna.org. In his email, Chet urges consumers to raise their voices and tell lawmakers about their disappointment with the Supreme Court’s decision:
A Letter to Our Consumers: Standing Together for Innovation, Progress and Technology – Let’s Raise Our Voices
On Saturday, many of you received the news that we decided to pause our operations temporarily, as a result of the United States Supreme Court’s reversal of a lower court decision in favor of Aereo.
Your response in support of the Aereo team has been overwhelming and touching. Your tweets, emails and Facebook posts have made it clear how important it is for so many Americans to have access to a cloud-based antenna to watch live broadcast television. Many of you have asked, “What can we do?”
Today, I’m asking you to raise your hands and make your voices heard. Tell your lawmakers how disappointed you are that the nation’s highest court issued a decision that could deny you the right to use the antenna of your choice to access live over-the-air broadcast television. Tell them your stories of why having access to a cloud-based antenna is important to you and your families. Show them you care about this issue.
Visit the updated ProtectMyAntenna.org, find your representatives and send tweets, emails and Facebook messages asking them to take action to protect your right to use the antenna of your choice to access live free-to-air broadcasts, including the ability to use a cloud-based antenna.
Don’t let your voices be silenced. Let’s stand together for innovation, progress, and technology.
Thank you for your continued support. We are truly grateful.
Yours truly,
Chet Kanojia
RBR-TVBR observation: You’ve got to give Chet credit for trying, but regardless of how consumers receive their broadcasts, he’s not going to be allowed to deliver copyrighted content over the internet and charge them a fee without permission from the broadcasters and networks. Any deal along those lines won’t likely have a chance of happening until Aereo pays all of the legal fees the Plaintiffs had to shell out for all of this. As we’ve reported, lawyers who specialize in copyright cases said the next step in the case will likely have broadcasters back in federal court trying to collect monetary damages, through a trial or by negotiating a settlement with Aereo. At a minimum, broadcasters will most likely look to recover retransmission fees. Aereo still has a lot of investment capital right now, but not much to do with it.
