NY Judge Blasts Refusal to Review Online TV Ruling

The Associated Press reports that a federal appeals judge warned Tuesday that the revenue streams that finance free television were being undermined by court rulings permitting a startup company to offer live television broadcasts over the Internet without paying fees to broadcasters.

U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin included the warning in a blistering dissent after the full 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan refused to make the Aereo Inc. case one of the rare instances when it assembles all of its judges to decide an issue.

A three-judge panel which included Chin ruled 2-to-1 in April that the billionaire Barry Diller-backed Aereo did not violate the copyrights of broadcasters with its service, which lets customers watch live programs on small portable devices for as little as $8 per month.

Chin dissented from that decision as well, though he went farther Tuesday, describing how the April 1 decision had damaged the financial landscape of free television. He said it “eviscerates the Copyright Act” and “upends settled industry expectations and established law.”