What If Aereo Wins at the Supreme Court?

Broadcasters will get their chance to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to give them some legal relief in their fight against Aereo, the Internet television company. On Friday the court said it would hear the appeal brought by ABC, 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal, and CBS, paving the way for a final determination this summer of whether Aereo's flavor of Internet television is legal.

If the broadcasters win, it will be the end of Aereo as we know it. Even if they lose, Aereo's future is far from certain: the industry has already threatened to kill Aereo through technical measures.

But first, the court case. Aereo and its antagonists agree on three things. One: Aereo's come up with a really clever technical trick on which to build a business. Two: the company poses a fundamental threat to business model of the existing broadcast television industry. Three: this case should be heard by the Supreme Court. Read more...