News Corp.'s Fox last Friday filed a
copyright-infringement lawsuit against BarryDriller.com, a website promising to
stream live TV over the Internet using the same approach as Aereo, a startup
whose backers include media mogul Barry Diller.
BarryDriller.com -- launched by Nigerian-born digital media
entrepreneur Alkiviades "Alki" David, who has run afoul of
broadcasters before -- is charging $5.95 per month to watch live TV, streamed
to computers, smartphones and tablets.
Fox accused BarryDriller.com of illegally retransmitting the
signal of its Los Angeles affiliate, KTTV, as well as infringing its
trademarks. The suit seeks a permanent injunction shutting down
BarryDriller.com as well as unspecified monetary damages.
The launch of BarryDriIler.com by David, whose main property
is streaming-video site FilmOn, comes after Aereo
won a legal victory last month against major broadcasters in a New York
federal district court. In that decision, the court declined to issue an
injunction shutting down Aereo, citing a prior decision upholding the legality
of Cablevision Systems' Remote Storage DVR service.
