Reports: US Supreme Court Says Aereo Violating Broadcaster Copyrights

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a ruling by a lower court today and has found that Internet-based TV broadcast service provider Aereo, Inc. violates broadcasters' copyrights, according to media reports on Wednesday. The petition was filed by a consortium of broadcasters in October 2013.

The Supreme court's ruling has reversed the favorable rulings from lower courts, with the Justices ruling 6-3 on the case. The ruling is expected to hit Aereo hard, even reportedly leading to the shut down of the startup.

Backed by media mogul Barry Diller, Aereo launched its service in New York city in early 2012, with its service debuting on iPhones and other Apple devices, and later expanded to laptops and desktop computers running Apple operating system. In late 2013, it expanded its service to Android 4.2 or higher OS, the most widely used platform in the world.

Subscribers to the service are assigned with a mini-antenna, which allows users to view or record free over-the-air TV station content on Internet-connected devices such as smart phones, tablets or computers. Aereo's streaming service is offered to subscribers for as little as $8 per month, which is significantly cheaper compared to other TV service plans.

However, the service is only available in about 11 cities including New York, Boston, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Miami, Houston and Dallas.

Aereo has been facing a number of lawsuits from TV broadcasters who are seeking a ban on the service. It had been until now on the winning side for the most part, and the lower courts had so far allowed Aereo to continue its service.

The online video startup Aereo has been up in arms against big time broadcasters such as Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS) ABC, Comcast Corp.'s (CMCSA) NBCUniversal, CBS Corp. (CBS) and 21st Century Fox, Inc. as well as PBS, WNET and Univision. It has been streaming programming online to subscribers for a fee without paying license fees to the broadcasters.

They have been charging the controversial TV service provider of breaking copyright laws by streaming their programming publicly without authorization and payment, in violation of exclusive rights.

Cable companies are required by the 1992 Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act to negotiate for retransmission consent, usually paying broadcasters for the right to carry their signals.

However, Aereo has claimed that it need not pay fees like the cable companies because the broadcast signals are free-to-air. Aereo said it was enabling only private screenings, just like off-the-shelf TV antennas.