Craig Birkmaier wrote: > The analogy of Aereo to the early CATV systems and building antenna > systems falls apart once the content leaves the home... Excellent point. I'll buy that. So now we can shift our attention to that "outside the home" aspect, since the in-home use of the Aereo signal should be non-controversial, being similar to a building antenna, *and* since the Supreme Court decided that even the PVR aspects are not an issue. So here's a bit of a cheap shot. If I buy a portable TV, do the broadcasters need to know? Should I be given some sort of permission to use their signal outside the home? As long as I am in the local market area, at least, Aereo reception should not have been be an issue. So to be logical and fair, was that the only beef? Streaming outside of the local market? That could have been remedied at the IP layer, by forcing Aereo to implement a geo-location filter when streaming to subscribers on the move. And by the way, at most, that complaint would be from the broadcasters in markets the Aereo subscriber is visiting, rather than from his back-home broadcasters who are enjoying the higher Nielsen ratings. Now look at FCC 12-126. This is the ruling that permits cable operators to encrypt all of their channels, including the basic tier (which also carries the FOTA channels in the market). So you read all this bla bla bla on how great digital encryption is for MVPDs. http://www.fcc.gov/document/commission-relaxes-cable-encryption-prohibition Then the FCC addresses cable customers. The bottom line is, the FCC requires the six major cable companies to make basic tier channels available to standard devices, such as IP, ClearQAM, or what have you, even if this means that the clear in-home network signal may originate at an in-home rented MVPD's box. Read this: "22. Contrary to Boxee's argument, nothing in Section 624A requires that consumer equipment compatibility be achieved by means of a hardware-free solution. Under the equipment measure we adopt today, the vast majority of consumers will be able to access service that is encrypted using a commercially available security technology or via equipment with standard home-networking capability in much the same way they do today. In fact, if this standard home-networking capability is connected to a wireless home network, the consumer experience could improve because consumers will be able to access basic service tier channels without physically connecting a device to a coaxial plug from the wall. Thus, mandating a hardware-free solution is not necessary to protect consumers in the context of the instant proceeding." So here's the question. When FCC mandates that the MVPD make the broadcaster's content available as IP to the in-home network, does the FCC require that the MVPD get permission from the broadcaster? Doesn't look like any such requirement exists. So if a service such as Aereo, which only relays FOTA channels, and not even the rest of an MVPD's basic tier, does what the FCC tells the cable companies to do, why should Aereo not be allowed? It makes no sense. This is a really good read of the current situation. One can only wonder why so many people cave in. http://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1497&context=student_scholarship Bert ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.