Locast being sued

[Tom_M1]

Just got the following email from Locast. Locast streams live TV from several cities in the US.

The giant broadcasters of CBS, NBC, FOX and DISNEY-owned ABC are taking a tiny nonprofit like Locast to court in an attempt to shut us down.
They want to take away your right to watch local TV channels via the internet for free. Their goal is to make you pay exorbitant fees to watch the same local TV channels you are supposed to get over the air for FREE! Why put billions of dollars into the pockets of these giant broadcasters when Locast offers local TV channels for FREE over the internet? Visit the Locast GoFund Me page now to donate to our legal defense fund.
Click here to write your elected representatives in Washington and demand they protect your right to watch streaming local TV channels. You can also visit www.locast.org to find out where you can watch your local TV channels for free on internet-connected computers, streaming media players, phones or tablets.
Thank you for your support,

David Goodfriend
Founder and Chairman of Locast.org
www.locast.org

[GDS-3950BH]

Dutch_12078 wrote:

GDS-3950BH wrote:

wildtoad wrote:
No different than cable, sat companies having to pay ( and pass on to subscribers) a fee to have access to free OTA local channels whether they watch them or not. Seems to me the networks should pay a distribution fee to the cable, sat, internet based services to show their commercial laden shows.

No different whatsoever, I would like to see them prevail, but I highly doubt they will no matter how much they pull in from Go Fund Me.

Direct TV, Dish, Comcast, and how many others all have/had deeper pockets for funding litigation than Locast will ever have or hope to have. His statement is bogus, getting local broadcast channels over the internet is not a "right".

DirecTV, Dish, Comcast, and the other cable folks are not suing Locast, and in fact support their right to exist and provide their service. It's the Big 4 networks that see the retransmission fee dollars not going in their pockets that are suing. As usual, follow the money. Or the lack of it in this case...

Brush up your comprehension.

[Dutch_12078]

GDS-3950BH wrote:

wildtoad wrote:
No different than cable, sat companies having to pay ( and pass on to subscribers) a fee to have access to free OTA local channels whether they watch them or not. Seems to me the networks should pay a distribution fee to the cable, sat, internet based services to show their commercial laden shows.

No different whatsoever, I would like to see them prevail, but I highly doubt they will no matter how much they pull in from Go Fund Me.

Direct TV, Dish, Comcast, and how many others all have/had deeper pockets for funding litigation than Locast will ever have or hope to have. His statement is bogus, getting local broadcast channels over the internet is not a "right".

DirecTV, Dish, Comcast, and the other cable folks are not suing Locast, and in fact support their right to exist and provide their service. It's the Big 4 networks that see the retransmission fee dollars not going in their pockets that are suing. As usual, follow the money. Or the lack of it in this case...

[Dutch_12078]

wanderingbob wrote:
If its local and over the air what do ya need LOCAST for . What am I missing here . All of out TV is free and over the air !

Locast provides service to people that do not have good OTA signal access and also allows viewing on devices other than conventional TV's such as smart phones, tablets, and PC's.

[Dutch_12078]

Locast/SFCNY already won one court battle when the judge refused to issue an injunction shutting them down while the case is pending. I would also note that Locast was operating for more than a year before AT&T donated to them last June. There has never been any evidence that Dish has donated anything more than including their app on the Hopper receivers. David Goodfriend has mentioned several times in interviews that he asked Dish's Charlie Ergen for a donation and was turned down. As long as the IRS agrees SFCNY is a legitimate 501(c)(3) non-profit, I think the networks will have a tough battle proving that the non-profit provisions of 17-USC-111(a)(5) don't apply.

(5)the secondary transmission is not made by a cable system but is made by a governmental body, or other nonprofit organization, without any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage, and without charge to the recipients of the secondary transmission other than assessments necessary to defray the actual and reasonable costs of maintaining and operating the secondary transmission service.

(Emphasis added)

17 U.S. Code §111.Limitations on exclusive rights: Secondary transmissions of broadcast programming ...

[wanderingbob]

If its local and over the air what do ya need LOCAST for . What am I missing here . All of out TV is free and over the air !

[wa8yxm]

First Locast is of no use to me they "Geo-fence" their product to the broadcast television stations they re-cast's footprints. They do not operate where I am.

But this is something I question with ALL Tv delivery services save Over the Air.

Let's say I am near Detroit. MI and I subscribe to a Cable or Sat TV service so I don't need to put up a big Yagi to get WXYZ-TV (Channel 7.x)

Well the cable or sat provider PAYS WXYZ.

Should it not be the other way around? I mean the station's viewership goes up as a result of the cable delivery More viewers means ads cost more so station profit goes up So why is WXYZ not paying Dish?

But then that's my opinion.

[drsteve]

Tom_M wrote:
Just got the following email from Locast. Locast streams live TV from several cities in the US.

The giant broadcasters of CBS, NBC, FOX and DISNEY-owned ABC are taking a tiny nonprofit like Locast to court in an attempt to shut us down.
They want to take away your right to watch local TV channels via the internet for free. Their goal is to make you pay exorbitant fees to watch the same local TV channels you are supposed to get over the air for FREE! Why put billions of dollars into the pockets of these giant broadcasters when Locast offers local TV channels for FREE over the internet? Visit the Locast GoFund Me page now to donate to our legal defense fund.
Click here to write your elected representatives in Washington and demand they protect your right to watch streaming local TV channels. You can also visit www.locast.org to find out where you can watch your local TV channels for free on internet-connected computers, streaming media players, phones or tablets.
Thank you for your support,

David Goodfriend
Founder and Chairman of Locast.org
www.locast.org

There is more here than meets the eye.

While Locast claims nonprofit status, the broadcasters argue that it's actually bankrolled by the satellite TV industry. DirecTV owner AT&T notably donated $500,000 to Locast, and Locast's founder is a paid lobbyist for Dish Network, which has fought broadcasters over fees for years.

More here: Clicky

[GDS-3950BH]

wildtoad wrote:
No different than cable, sat companies having to pay ( and pass on to subscribers) a fee to have access to free OTA local channels whether they watch them or not. Seems to me the networks should pay a distribution fee to the cable, sat, internet based services to show their commercial laden shows.

No different whatsoever, I would like to see them prevail, but I highly doubt they will no matter how much they pull in from Go Fund Me.

Direct TV, Dish, Comcast, and how many others all have/had deeper pockets for funding litigation than Locast will ever have or hope to have. His statement is bogus, getting local broadcast channels over the internet is not a "right".

[wildtoad]

No different than cable, sat companies having to pay ( and pass on to subscribers) a fee to have access to free OTA local channels whether they watch them or not. Seems to me the networks should pay a distribution fee to the cable, sat, internet based services to show their commercial laden shows.