/ 09.29.2010 12:00AM
Broadcasters Sue Online Streaming Company
MULTIPLE CITIES: Several broadcast groups and major content
owners filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against ivi.TV,
a Seattle-based online service that streams broadcast and cable content,
claiming that the service violates copyright law.
The lawsuit filed in a New York federal district court requests that the
service be discontinued while the court reviews the action. The suit was filed
by, among others, CBS, NBC, Disney, PBS, Cox, WPIX and the office of the commissioner
of Major League Baseball. The suit follows a series of cease-and-desist letters
delivered to ivi, which it answered with a lawsuit of its own.
ivi is trying to skirt current copyright laws by claiming that it is an online
cable provider, but not as defined by telecommunications law. It also says
that, unlike previous online streaming services that incurred broadcasters’
wrath, like iCraveTV 10 years ago, that it pays broadcasters under copyright
laws. The company termed this week’s actions as a “predictable move to stifle
innovation and technology,” and in a press release issued yesterday announcing
the new service, countered that ivi.TV is “the consumer’s and television
industry’s new best friend.”
“We pay broadcasters in accordance with the law, just like cable,” the company
said in its response to the lawsuit. “This is not about copyright, this is
about competition. In an initial knee-jerk reaction, broadcasters fought
against cable companies, then joined them. Broadcasters then fought against
satellite companies, then joined them. Today, it is our turn.
ivi.TV pays broadcasters and we increase
their viewership.”
The plaintiffs said they filed the lawsuit because of their “commitment to
protect our rights vigorously. This is a company that’s simply stealing our
broadcast signals and copyrighted programming and streaming them on the
Internet without permission.” They claim that
ivi.TV plans to add several more stations to its streaming
service—now carrying signals from Seattle and New York TV stations—and that
such actions could lead to “substantial irredeemable losses” to stations and
copyright license holders.”
ivi.TV
claims that its service,
available via a downloadable app for $4.99 a month, after a free 30-day trial,”
could save consumers an average of almost $800 a year, based on a current
average monthly cable subscription of $71. -- from TV Technology