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To be clear - would you also be morally opposed to renting physical TV antennas? Assume that the only thing they are useful for is receiving broadcast televisio

To be clear - would you also be morally opposed to renting physical TV antennas? Assume that the only thing they are useful for is receiving broadcast television, they can't be repurposed for electronics hacking, hanging clothes, etc.

rayiner 11y ago
I'm not morally opposed to the service--I'm opposed to moralizing the issue and pretending that you're fighting "fat cats" even as you create a service that exists solely to sell their content to other people.
- acjohnson55 11y ago
  But that content is already being freely distributed over the airwaves. They just provided another means of accessing it. The only reason the broadcasters opposed Aereo is that they were afraid people might cut the cable. The current system is a bizarre pyramid of misincentives. I really believe the decision against Aereo came down to fear of what would happen if that pyramid needed to be fundamentally rethought, as it will eventually definitely need to be. It was basically a gift to the established players to hopefully give them another couple decent years before they actually have to innovate. It's rather telling that they could pretty trivially live stream their over-the-air content, obviating the purpose of an Aereo, but they simply choose not to.
  - rayiner 11y ago
    The content is free because it is distributed over the public airwaves. If you distribute it in a way that does not use the public airwaves, the basis for making it free to the public disappears. Also, broadcasters couldn't care less if people cut the cable. They only reason they cared about Aereo is because they're in a bitter war with the cable companies over retransmission fees, and if Aereo can stream broadcast content for free, that could undermine broadcasters' leverage over cable companies. The system definitely needs to be rethought. The sensible thing to do would be to simply get rid of free public broadcasting and the associated copyright exceptions. Free up the airwaves, and let broadcasters sell content directly to cable and internet companies. But as Netflix is finding out, content is king. There is little room for simple middle-men like Aereo to make money when they can't get content for free.

rayiner 11y ago

I'm not morally opposed to the service--I'm opposed to moralizing the issue and pretending that you're fighting "fat cats" even as you create a service that exists solely to sell their content to other people.

acjohnson55 11y ago
But that content is already being freely distributed over the airwaves. They just provided another means of accessing it. The only reason the broadcasters opposed Aereo is that they were afraid people might cut the cable. The current system is a bizarre pyramid of misincentives. I really believe the decision against Aereo came down to fear of what would happen if that pyramid needed to be fundamentally rethought, as it will eventually definitely need to be. It was basically a gift to the established players to hopefully give them another couple decent years before they actually have to innovate. It's rather telling that they could pretty trivially live stream their over-the-air content, obviating the purpose of an Aereo, but they simply choose not to.
- rayiner 11y ago
  The content is free because it is distributed over the public airwaves. If you distribute it in a way that does not use the public airwaves, the basis for making it free to the public disappears. Also, broadcasters couldn't care less if people cut the cable. They only reason they cared about Aereo is because they're in a bitter war with the cable companies over retransmission fees, and if Aereo can stream broadcast content for free, that could undermine broadcasters' leverage over cable companies. The system definitely needs to be rethought. The sensible thing to do would be to simply get rid of free public broadcasting and the associated copyright exceptions. Free up the airwaves, and let broadcasters sell content directly to cable and internet companies. But as Netflix is finding out, content is king. There is little room for simple middle-men like Aereo to make money when they can't get content for free.