Aereo Turns to Congress to Reverse Court Ban

Last week saw the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, effectively wipe Aereo off the map by making the company’s streaming service illegal. The decision had swift ramifications, with the company alerting customers over the weekend that it would suspend its offerings until it worked out next steps with the courts. In a last-ditch effort, CEO Chet Kanojia today sent a letter to customers urging them to notify Congress that they want the decision reversed.

“Tell your lawmakers how disappointed you are that the nation’s highest court issued a decision that could deny you the right to use the antenna of your choice to access live over-the-air broadcast television,” Kanojia wrote. “Tell them your stories of why having access to a cloud-based antenna is important to you and your families.”

The company also recently updated its advocacy website, ProtectMyAntenna.org, to address the decision and call on users to write to their elected officials.

Moving forward, congressional lawmakers would need to change telecommunications and copyright law to allow for Aereo’s business to start up again. In the short term, that seems unlikely; even though cord-cutting has gained traction in recent years, the court’s decision concerned how content is distributed.

“This is not about new technology,” The Diffusion Group president Michael Greeson told The Verge. “Aereo wanted to make it about new technology … but the justices really didn’t want to talk technology.”  However, the company’s fight may not be in vain, since the broadcast industry can expect more Aereo-like services to crop up in the future.