OVERNIGHT TECH: Internet TV service countersues broadcasters

“Consumers use the Aereo Technology to do no more than what they are entitled to do: access local television broadcasts on the public airwaves using an individual antenna; create unique copies of that broadcast content for their own personal use; and play back their unique recordings to their television or other viewing devices for their personal use,” Aereo wrote in its filing.

The company asked the court to declare that its technology does not infringe any copyrights and to force the broadcasters to pay for its legal fees.

{mosads}In their original suit, the stations accused Aereo of trying to use “technological gimmickry” to avoid copyright law.

“It simply does not matter whether Aereo uses one big antenna to receive Plaintiffs’ broadcasts and retransmit them to subscribers, or ‘tons’ of ‘tiny’ antennas, as Aereo claims it does,” the stations wrote. “Simply put, Aereo is an unauthorized Internet delivery service that is receiving, converting and retransmitting broadcast signals to its subscribers for a fee.”

Dish closes spectrum deal: Satellite service Dish Network completed its deal for about $3 billion worth of wireless airwave licenses on Monday after receiving approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The FCC is moving ahead with a formal rule change to allow Dish to operate a wireless cellphone network on the frequencies. Dish had wanted a simple waiver, which would have taken less time than the formal rule-making process, which could take nine months or longer.  

“DISH looks forward to working with the FCC on its forthcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and remains committed to using this spectrum to help the Administration and the FCC solve the nation’s spectrum crunch,” Dish Network said in a statement.

Dish may choose to build its own wireless network or it may sell the spectrum to another company.

ICYMI:
Yahoo sued Facebook on Monday, accusing the social media giant of infringing 10 patents, including in advertising and social networking.

The Commerce Department rejected the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN’s) bid for a long-term contract to continue managing key Internet functions on Monday. Instead, the agency, granted ICANN a six-month extension on its contract to manage the Internet’s address and domain systems. 

Facebook retained Steptoe & Johnson to lobby on “issues related to social networking,” according to disclosure forms released Monday.

About 18 percent of social media users have blocked, unfriended or hidden someone because of political material the person posted online, a study released Monday by the Pew Center found.

Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) is gathering signatures from lawmakers for a letter urging former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), now the head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), to reverse his organization’s decision to give an upcoming documentary about bullying an R rating.