Nice try, Aereo, but according to U.S. copyright officials, you’re not a cable company.
Earlier this month, the Boston-based startup switched up its stance and sought legitimacy of its TV-streaming service by applying to get the same license available to other cable companies to rebroadcast shows.
In June, the Supreme Court gave Aereo a virtual death sentence, and ruled that it’s DVR-in-the-cloud service, which uses tiny individual antennas to pick up television and programming, made the startup essentially the same as a cable company. The problem, however, was that Aereo didn’t pay the costly broadcaster licensing fees that cable companies were required to pay, and therefore was infringing on copyright.
The tech community in Boston and elsewhere got upset, claiming that the government failed to recognize the innovation staring them in the face.
Within days of the court’s six to three decision, Aereo announced that it was pressing pause on its service until otherwise stated, and refunding users for the last month.
The company then decided to embrace the court’s ruling and claim that it was a cable company, seeking a license to broadcast TV shows. The license would let Aereo legally stream TV shows from networks like Disney, Fox, NBC and more, in exchange for set fees.
"In the view of the Copyright Office, internet retransmissions of broadcast television fall outside the scope of the Section 111 license," the Copyright Office wrote in the letter dated July 16, according to CNBC.
The office reportedly stated that it would “not refuse Aereo's filings outright, but rather would accept them provisionally since the company's case is still before the courts.”
This is another blow for the company, which has raised $97 million from New York firm FirstMark Capital and Cambridge-based Highland Capital Partners, among others. Though headquartered in New York, Aereo has 75 of its 110 employees in an office in Boston.
Image via CNN
