The FCC is unlikely to help Aereo, even...
The FCC is unlikely to help Aereo, even if the streaming TV service is successful in getting a federal judge to grant it a compulsory copyright license (CD July 11 p10), emailed Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant to investors. If…
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Aereo succeeds in U.S. District Court in New York, the FCC would likely get involved, and could classify the company as a cable system, Gallant said. That could ruin Aereo’s business, since FCC recognition of Aereo as a cable system would mean it would have to obey retransmission consent rules and carry local TV signals, Gallant said. “What Aereo appears to need from the FCC is either: a) For the FCC simply not to act; or b) For the FCC to declare Aereo is neither a cable operator nor an MVPD.” The multichannel video programming distributor route is more likely, because of the influence of the Aereo Supreme Court ruling and of broadcasters and pay-TV companies, who are likely to demand that Aereo follow the same rules they do, Gallant said Monday. On Tuesday, the Copyright Office sought comment in light of last month’s Aereo high court ruling on making-available and communication-to-the-public rights. (See separate report above in this issue.)