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I saw this company on the net a year or two ago and though wow that kind of a neat application of technology, I think at the time they were in only two markets.
Summary of Technology:
Within the Radio Frequency spectrum, broadcast television is assigned certain bans they can use as a standard. This allow television manufactures to have common specific frequency "channels" assigned which is a subset or "band" of frequencies at certain points which will contain the video and audio component that we watch. For very strong signals a TV doesn't even need an antenna to receive signals, but to capture more signals and at beater quality we connect an antenna to the TV which enhances the TV reception. Sometimes it could be "rabbit ears" or a newer "blade" antenna that sit on a shelf near the TV. Other time we may run cable from the inside to an antenna on the roof of the house or apartment building. What we can also do is to connect video recording devises between the signal collection point (the antenna) and the TV to record broadcasts to time shift their viewing.
What Aero does is maintain arrays of thousands, tens of thousands of individual antennas connected to recording devices. When the consumer signs up for their service they are allocated resources from one antenna and for storage space. And here is an important distinction each consumer access only ONE antenna that they control along with their allocation of personal storage space. Aero does not collect and rebroadcast one signal, each individual consumer controls the antenna selection. If five different people are watching an over the air broadcast from from the local ABC affiliate, then 5 different antennas are being used and streamed to those homes. Because each consumer has control over their signal, each can use the time shift capabilities of their personal recording to be watching different sigments of the time stream. Say at one point Consumer A and Consumer B are both watching "The Big Bang Theory". Consumer A sits down and watch the show uninterrupted, Consumer B gets phone call and pauses the stream. After a 2 minutes phone call Consumer B continues to watch the show. Because the show is stored in a personal space allocation this shows they are watching two different streams.
Of important point to note, Aero will only allow consumers to collect and time shift signals within the area of the broadcast station. This means that if you are in Washing DC you can't capture and stream New York broadcasters since you are outside the viewing area. Even if you live in New York and are traveling the system will not function once you leave the geographic broadcast area.
Broadcasters Argument:
From what I've read of the arguments, the broadcasters are trying to make it appear that Aero is recording their broadcast and retransmitting it to 10's of thousand of customers simultaneously, which of course is a copy-write infringement. From this perspective there would be no difference in what Aero is doing and me recording a movie off SyFy, taking that recording to my local school renting their auditorium and then charging people to come in an watch my recording played for an audience.
Aero's Argument:
On the other side of the coin Aero's claim is that they are not violating copy-write because they are not recording content and reselling it, they are renting hardware (basically antenna array space and digital storage) that the consumer then controls. From their perspective they are not capturing broadcast from public performance (a key term in the case law). By renting hardware, it is the consumer that is capturing the broadcast and routing it to their home, that there is no difference in the application of their technology to a homeowner capturing the signal and routing it to their own hardware (video recording) to watch and/or time shift at their preference.
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The legality of remote storage (i.e. outside the home) was addressed in a suit in 2008 when a cable company offered remote storage outside the home for later viewing by the consumer. The appeals court found it a valid application of technology and not a violation of copy-write law because individual copies were stored to space allocated to individual consumers - the same as what Aero is doing. The cable company under this remote-DVR (digital video recorder) concept did no keep one copy of a show and resell it. The company simply facilitated through technology remote storage for the consumer and it was the consumer that then decided on content and when to view it.
>>>>
I saw this company on the net a year or two ago and though wow that kind of a neat application of technology, I think at the time they were in only two markets.
Summary of Technology:
Within the Radio Frequency spectrum, broadcast television is assigned certain bans they can use as a standard. This allow television manufactures to have common specific frequency "channels" assigned which is a subset or "band" of frequencies at certain points which will contain the video and audio component that we watch. For very strong signals a TV doesn't even need an antenna to receive signals, but to capture more signals and at beater quality we connect an antenna to the TV which enhances the TV reception. Sometimes it could be "rabbit ears" or a newer "blade" antenna that sit on a shelf near the TV. Other time we may run cable from the inside to an antenna on the roof of the house or apartment building. What we can also do is to connect video recording devises between the signal collection point (the antenna) and the TV to record broadcasts to time shift their viewing.
What Aero does is maintain arrays of thousands, tens of thousands of individual antennas connected to recording devices. When the consumer signs up for their service they are allocated resources from one antenna and for storage space. And here is an important distinction each consumer access only ONE antenna that they control along with their allocation of personal storage space. Aero does not collect and rebroadcast one signal, each individual consumer controls the antenna selection. If five different people are watching an over the air broadcast from from the local ABC affiliate, then 5 different antennas are being used and streamed to those homes. Because each consumer has control over their signal, each can use the time shift capabilities of their personal recording to be watching different sigments of the time stream. Say at one point Consumer A and Consumer B are both watching "The Big Bang Theory". Consumer A sits down and watch the show uninterrupted, Consumer B gets phone call and pauses the stream. After a 2 minutes phone call Consumer B continues to watch the show. Because the show is stored in a personal space allocation this shows they are watching two different streams.
Of important point to note, Aero will only allow consumers to collect and time shift signals within the area of the broadcast station. This means that if you are in Washing DC you can't capture and stream New York broadcasters since you are outside the viewing area. Even if you live in New York and are traveling the system will not function once you leave the geographic broadcast area.
"Basically, Aereo uses FCC maps to determine the maximum perimeter around the New York City metropolitan area from which someone with a typical residential TV antenna on her roof would be able to pick up over-the-air signals from New York City. If the customer ventures outside that range, her phone's GPS or wi-fi systems will eventually detect that fact, and Aereo will dutifully cut off reception." (Aereo is leaving the courts dazed and confused - Fortune Tech)
Broadcasters Argument:
From what I've read of the arguments, the broadcasters are trying to make it appear that Aero is recording their broadcast and retransmitting it to 10's of thousand of customers simultaneously, which of course is a copy-write infringement. From this perspective there would be no difference in what Aero is doing and me recording a movie off SyFy, taking that recording to my local school renting their auditorium and then charging people to come in an watch my recording played for an audience.
Aero's Argument:
On the other side of the coin Aero's claim is that they are not violating copy-write because they are not recording content and reselling it, they are renting hardware (basically antenna array space and digital storage) that the consumer then controls. From their perspective they are not capturing broadcast from public performance (a key term in the case law). By renting hardware, it is the consumer that is capturing the broadcast and routing it to their home, that there is no difference in the application of their technology to a homeowner capturing the signal and routing it to their own hardware (video recording) to watch and/or time shift at their preference.
*******************************
The legality of remote storage (i.e. outside the home) was addressed in a suit in 2008 when a cable company offered remote storage outside the home for later viewing by the consumer. The appeals court found it a valid application of technology and not a violation of copy-write law because individual copies were stored to space allocated to individual consumers - the same as what Aero is doing. The cable company under this remote-DVR (digital video recorder) concept did no keep one copy of a show and resell it. The company simply facilitated through technology remote storage for the consumer and it was the consumer that then decided on content and when to view it.
>>>>
