Aereo Files New Countersuit Against Broadcasters

Aereo has a lot of gumption. Even though it faces lawsuits from every major broadcasting company in the country, it launched its new TV streaming service this month and is now aggressively fighting back against the media conglomerates that are trying to take it down. The company has just filed a second countersuit against PBS, Fox, and two local New York affiliates.

Those companies had filed a lawsuit against Aereo last year, when they got wind of what exactly the new service would do. It takes existing free antenna TV and beams it through Wi-Fi to let users pick up the connection on their mobile phones. The other major networks, including CBS and NBC, have filed their own separate lawsuit against the startup, which is backed by huge investors.

The legal unrest comes down to whether or not Aereo's service constitutes a "retransmission" of the TV broadcasts, something that isn't clearly defined in the law as it stands now. In a statement, the company said, "Aereo merely provides technology that consumer may use to what they are legally entitled to do: (1) access free and legally accessible over the air television broadcasts using an antenna; (2) create individual, unique recording of those broadcasts for personal use."

[via VentureBeat]