The four major broadcast networks--ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, if you didn't know--won the first in what will probably be a long battle against an oncoming horde of streaming TV providers when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against FilmOn. The U.S. District Court of the Southern New York is now deliberating the broadcasters' request that the site be shut down altogether.
FilmOn, of course, isn't going down without a fight. The start-up's plan is to stream live broadcast networks to its website and charge viewers $10 a month for equipment to watch it. Broadcasters, who get paid for their product by cable, telco and satellite operators, and who have their own mobile digital TV (Mobile DTV) processes, claim that's a copyright infringement. Perhaps, FilmOn CEO Alki David suggested, there's a middle ground.
"We have already begun very positive discussions with TV networks affiliates and other content owners to provide our delivery service and measurement analytics to stream their live content online," he said. In the meantime, the court has given FilmOn time to make its case that what it does is legal and will be "drafting papers in opposition to the networks' motion for a preliminary injunction in the coming weeks," a company news release said.
For now, FilmOn is FilmOff to what David said are about 30 million users in the U.S.
For more:
- Washington Post has this story
Related articles:
FilmOn offering live Internet TV in HD for $10 a month
FilmOn's $10-a-month HD TV content over the Internet plan draws a lawsuit from broadcasters