Aereo Puts Service on 'Pause' As It Weighs Next Steps
Ted Johnson
Variety
Following the Supreme Court's ruling on Wednesday in favor of broadcasters, Aereo announced early Saturday that it was pausing its streaming TV service at 11:30 a.m. ET.
"We have decided to pause our operations temporarily as we consult with the court and map out our next steps," Aereo CEO and founder Chet Kanojia wrote in a letter to subscribers.
All users will be refunded their last paid month, he wrote.
He urged consumers to "keep your voices loud and sign up for updates at ProtectMyAntenna.org - our journey is far from done."
The company emphasized that it was not shutting down but waiting as the case returns to the lower court in New York, although it is unclear what options they have. Another question is whether networks and broadcast stations will seek monetary damages.
The broadcasters challenged the district court's decision to decline their motion for an injunction to halt Aereo, and the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals also sided with the streaming service. The Supreme Court's decision reversed those lower court rulings.
Kanojia's full letter is below:
A Letter to Our Consumers: Standing Together for Innovation, Progress and Technology - An Update on Aereo
"The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress." -Charles Kettering, inventor, entrepreneur, innovator & philanthropist
A little over three years ago, our team embarked on a journey to improve the consumer television experience, using technology to create a smart, cloud-based television antenna consumers could use to access live over the air broadcast television.
On Wednesday , the United States Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision in favor of Aereo, dealing a massive setback to consumers.
As a result of that decision, our case has been returned to the lower Court. We have decided to pause our operations temporarily as we consult with the court and map out our next steps. You will be able to access your cloud-based antenna and DVR only until 11:30 a.m. ET today.
All of our users will be refunded their last paid month. If you have questions about your account, please email [email protected] or tweet us @AereoSupport.
The spectrum that the broadcasters use to transmit over the air programming belongs to the American public and we believe you should have a right to access that live programming whether your antenna sits on the roof of your home, on top of your television or in the cloud.
On behalf of the entire team at Aereo, thank you for the outpouring of support. It has been staggering and we are so grateful for your emails, Tweets and Facebook posts. Keep your voices loud and sign up for updates at http://protectmyantenna.org/- our journey is far from done.
Yours truly,
Chet Kanojia
"We have decided to pause our operations temporarily as we consult with the court and map out our next steps," Aereo CEO and founder Chet Kanojia wrote in a letter to subscribers.
All users will be refunded their last paid month, he wrote.
He urged consumers to "keep your voices loud and sign up for updates at ProtectMyAntenna.org - our journey is far from done."
The company emphasized that it was not shutting down but waiting as the case returns to the lower court in New York, although it is unclear what options they have. Another question is whether networks and broadcast stations will seek monetary damages.
The broadcasters challenged the district court's decision to decline their motion for an injunction to halt Aereo, and the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals also sided with the streaming service. The Supreme Court's decision reversed those lower court rulings.
Kanojia's full letter is below:
A Letter to Our Consumers: Standing Together for Innovation, Progress and Technology - An Update on Aereo
"The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress." -Charles Kettering, inventor, entrepreneur, innovator & philanthropist
A little over three years ago, our team embarked on a journey to improve the consumer television experience, using technology to create a smart, cloud-based television antenna consumers could use to access live over the air broadcast television.
On Wednesday , the United States Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision in favor of Aereo, dealing a massive setback to consumers.
As a result of that decision, our case has been returned to the lower Court. We have decided to pause our operations temporarily as we consult with the court and map out our next steps. You will be able to access your cloud-based antenna and DVR only until 11:30 a.m. ET today.
All of our users will be refunded their last paid month. If you have questions about your account, please email [email protected] or tweet us @AereoSupport.
The spectrum that the broadcasters use to transmit over the air programming belongs to the American public and we believe you should have a right to access that live programming whether your antenna sits on the roof of your home, on top of your television or in the cloud.
On behalf of the entire team at Aereo, thank you for the outpouring of support. It has been staggering and we are so grateful for your emails, Tweets and Facebook posts. Keep your voices loud and sign up for updates at http://protectmyantenna.org/- our journey is far from done.
Yours truly,
Chet Kanojia
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