After a recent court ruling, Aereo was forced to shut down its service in Denver and Salt Lake City Saturday morning.
On Friday the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals panel turned down Aereo’s request to suspend a federal judge’s preliminary injunction order to stop its service in six states. Last month Utah District Judge Dale Kimball said that Aereo’s retransmission of video signals was “indistinguishable from a cable company.”
“We’re very disappointed that the District Court in UT chose to take a different path than every other court that reviewed our tech,” Aereo said on its Twitter page. “We’re unwavering in our belief that our technology falls squarely within the law and we look forward to continuing to serve our consumers.”
Broadcasters have sued Aereo for alleged copyright infringement since it doesn’t pay for the over-the-air signals that the company uses to provision its service.
In January, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal on April 22 from television broadcast networks in regards to their attempt to shut down Aereo. The U.S. Supreme Court will try to resolve all of the different Aereo rulings in different districts. A ruling in the 2nd District Court of Appeals, which covers New York, Connecticut and Vermont, said Aereo was not violating copyrights and allowed it to continue operating.
Kimball’s ruling applied to the jurisdiction of the 10th District Court of Appeals, which covers Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and the parts of Yellowstone National Park that extend into Montana and Idaho.
Aereo launched its service across Utah in August and in the Denver area in November.
Despite its legal battles, Aereo announced in January that it had secured $34 million in additional funding.
Last year Aereo announced its plan to roll out its service to 22 cities across the nation. Aereo’s service is currently available to residents in the following markets: Austin, San Antonio, Cincinnati, New York City, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Detroit and Baltimore.
Aereo membership starts at $8 per month, for access to its cloud-based antenna/DVR technology and 20 hours of DVR storage. For an additional $4 per month, consumers can upgrade their membership and receive 60 hours of DVR storage for a total of $12 per month.
