Uh oh, Aereo

[Commentary] The Aereo decision is bad news for consumers, since it could take away a promising new model for watching free over-the-air television. Cord-cutters still have options.

They can still access other online video services—and maybe some reconfigured version of Aereo -- and watch broadcast TV with an antenna. But there’s no doubt that the opinion (especially when considered alongside ivi and Sky Angel) is good for the network/affiliate/cable status quo.

Of course if you asked me on the record I would have told you that I was optimistic that a unanimous Supreme Court would simply adopt our brief. But like most observers I concluded that the Court was looking for a way to rule against Aereo but limit the collateral damage against the tech industry as a whole. Instead, the Court uses reasoning that could apply very easily to any number of online services -- file hosting, cloud lockers, even virtual private networks (VPNs) -- as well as services that no one has even come up with yet.