AEREO RETURNS TO COURT

It may not be a last-ditch stand, but the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan may be close to the last ditch for Aereo, which hopes to convince the judge that it should be allowed to resume streaming the content of local stations to subscribers by securing a license to do so from the broadcasters. In effect, it wants to be treated like a cable company but one that only carries local TV stations. In its ruling last June, the Supreme Court acknowledged that Aereo resembled a cable company. In a court filing, Aereo chief Chet Kanojia wrote that classifying it in such a manner "would have clear benefits to consumers, creators and distributors alike." In other words, broadcasters could charge Aereo a retransmission fee the way it does cable companies, something that Aereo hopes will appeal to broadcasters. Perhaps not, however. The broadcasters have a tight relationship with cable operators and Aereo’s continued operation would allow many more cable and satellite subscribers to "cut the cord" and rely on the Internet exclusively for their video entertainment.