Aereo Ruling Could Impact Pandora

itwbennett writes "Aereo's court battles are far from over, to be sure, but the ruling earlier this month that the TV streaming service doesn't violate copyright laws must have the folks at music streaming service Pandora shaking their heads, wondering why they're still paying royalties that currently consume more than half their revenues. The implications of Aereo's business model are far-reaching and may ultimately 'be resolved by Congress, just as it did when cable first came on the scene, by passing legislation to redefine a public performance,' writes broadcast industry attorney David Oxenford."

Re:Playing back a recording

[TubeSteak]

I watch broadcast tv
Private performance.

I record broadcast tv to my computer and play it back later
Private performance.

I record broadcast tv to my computer and stream it to a computer/tablet/phone over the internet
Private performance

I rent an antenna, a hard drive, and bandwidth from a 3rd party and record broadcast tv onto the hard drive so that I can play it back over the internet.
*Second Circuit Court says: Private performance.

Pandora is wondering why this can't apply to them as well.
*The decision is limited to NY, Vermont, and Connecticut.

Re:Pandora needs to change technology to win.

[camperdave]

Or a $20 50mW FM transmitter, a stripped bit of wire to use as an antenna, and a faraday cage for each user's personal "station". That would put them pretty much exactly where aero is.

Not even close. Aereo is merely relaying an existing signal. Pandora is originating the signal.

Re:Pandora needs to change technology to win.

[cdrudge]

It wasn't CDs, but rather DVDs, but that is essentially what Zediva tried with individual DVDs and players [wikipedia.org]. It ultimately didn't work out for them in the end, although I don't believe that there was final verdict that said what they were attempting to do was illegal. If another company wanted to try the legal challenge, they better have VERY deep pockets.