Broadcasters had their way in court when a U.S. district judge in New York issued a preliminary injunction barring interactive TV start-up ivi TV from streaming copyright-protected broadcast programming.
ivi had maintained that it is a cable operator retransmitting broadcast signals. The company charged $4.99 a month to subscribers who downloaded the ivi TV player. The court disagreed with ivi and agreed with the broadcasters who had sued for copyright infringement.
The news did not sit well with the company, although it did agree to shut down broadcast channel offerings while appealing the court order.
"The oppressive big media networks must open their doors to innovators or they will inevitably fall," a company statement said.
For more:
- the Philadelphia Inquirer has this story
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