In a statement that read like a classic boxing combination, Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia today started with the left jab that said his company is prepared to let the Supreme Court decide its legality.
That statement set up the big right cross where he agreed with Cablevision’s assertion that the broadcasters suing him are looking to do more than just stop the Barry Diller backed internet streaming service.
Yesterday Cablevision issued a whitepaper saying, while it agrees Aereo violates copyright law, the broadcasters fighting the service are looking to overturn what the two companies are calling the basic principles of cloud computing, the 2008 Cablevision remote-storage DVR (RS-DVR) decision.
In his statement, Kanojia wrote, “The long-standing landmark Second Circuit decision in Cablevision has served as a crucial underpinning to the cloud computing and cloud storage industry. The broadcasters’ filing makes clear that they are using Aereo as a proxy to attack Cablevision itself.”
“The broadcasters’ overreaching copyright arguments would, if accepted, cause grave harm to consumers, cloud-based technology and future innovation,” wrote Cablevision yesterday. “In a case about Aereo, the broadcasters go well beyond Aereo and attack the legal underpinning of all cloud-based services, everything from the Apple iCloud to Cablevision’s own remote storage DVR service. In short, the broadcasters are asking the Court to throw the baby out with the bathwater – a move that could cripple cloud-based innovation in the U.S.”
While Kanojia has an ally when it comes to protecting the Cablevision ruling, the cable company makes it clear it does not back Aereo when it comes to copyright law. “The broadcasters’ radical arguments are completely unnecessary,” said Cablevision. “As explained in the white paper, there are narrower – and more persuasive – grounds for invalidating Aereo, which focus solely on the Aereo service and technology, and not on cloud services generally.”