Looks like the streaming of network TV is about to end in Washington. Less than a week after ABC, NBC and Fox filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in federal court in D.C. against Alki David’s FilmOn and his Aereokiller service, the media industry provocateur says he’s pulling the broadcasters from his streaming service.
Broadcast networks filed suit on Thursday to halt a company from offering streams of their signals in the Washington, D.C. market, in the latest effort to challenge the legality of a bevy of services seeking to provide over-the-air TV on the Internet. Fox, NBC, ABC and Allbritton Communications filed a claim in U.S. District Court in Washington against Aereokiller, the provocatively named company founded by FilmOn’s Alki David.
Aereokiller, embroiled in litigation with the TV networks, is putting at least one legal dispute behind it. Founder Alki David agreed to stop calling his online video company Aereokiller, in order to settle a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by its Barry-Diller backed rival, Aereo.
TV broadcasters are asking a federal appellate court to order online video service Aereokiller to remain shuttered. “Aereokiller represents the latest in a long line of services that, utilizing various technologies, have sought to retransmit over-the-air broadcasts of television programming without licenses to do so,” a group of networks argues in papers filed late last week with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In case its name left any doubt, online video startup Aereokiller hopes to offer a service to rival Barry Diller’s Aereo. So it’s somewhat ironic that Aereo is shaping up as Aereokiller’s biggest unwitting booster in court. But whether Aereo is happy about this or not, the company’s recent win in a federal appellate court in New York is providing fodder to Aereokiller in its battle to resume operations in California.
A Los Angeles federal court is ordering Alki David’s Aereokiller to stop its streaming of broadcast signals to the Internet and mobile devices, delivering a victory to the TV networks as they seek to protect their retransmission revenue streams.
Exclusives
ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox got a step closer today to shutting down Alki David’s online streaming of their shows. Judge George Wu on Thursday granted the networks their mutually desired tentative preliminary injunction against the digital entrepreneur’s Aereokiller service.
A group of major networks has filed suit against billionaire Alki David’s Aereokiller, requesting an injunction on the TV streaming service in federal court in California. The networks claim that the service disrupts their ability to negotiate retrans contracts and earn ad revenue from the shows that are rebroadcast online.
