ivi TV Told No!
Posted by Steve Fravel on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 · 
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A U.S. District Court Judge in New York has indicated in a preliminary injunction that ivi TV cannot stream over-the-air TV stations signals without retransmission consent and fees. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald’s order noted ”…we conclude that ivi is not a cable system under Section 111, and thus do not reach the question of whether they are governed by the Communications Act.” Her order also indicated that it is “unlikely” that ivi TV would be classified as a cable system under the copyright laws.
Dennis Wharton, spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) said, “NAB is gratified to learn that the federal court in New York has preliminarily enjoined ivi from continuing its illegal retransmission of broadcast signals over the Internet.”
Major Broadcasters and Baseball Sue ivi TV
Posted by Steve Fravel on Wednesday, September 29, 2010 · ·
Citing a commitment to protect their rights, CBS, Fox, NBC, WPIX, Disney, Cox, PBS and the office of the commissioner of baseball have filed suit against ivi TV in the U.S. District Court of New York. The filing indicates copyright infringement and secondary infringement. ivi TV launched its online pay video service two weeks ago claiming that it was within its rights to retransmit TV station signals. Read more
ivi Faces Legal Action from Broadcasters
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, September 23, 2010 · ·
As predicted, ivi, the new online, live TV service is facing legal action.
A group of companies including NBC Universal, CBS Broadcasting, Fox Television Stations, Disney, Major League Baseball and others have sent cease-and-desist letters to the video start-up. The letters allege that ivi does not have permission from the content owners to rebroadcast the programming. Read more
ivi Launches ‘Highly Disruptive’ Online Streaming TV Service
Posted by Jesse Ward on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 · ·
ivi TV pro — with controller and guide open
A new online video service was launched to great industry fanfare on Monday. ivi offers a live Web feed of more than three dozen broadcast channels, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The CW, PBS and Telemundo. Ivi claims to have more content then Hulu, with plans to add more channels in the future and also maintain al a carte options.
The service is available via a downloadable application for $4.99/month, with a free 30-day trial. Subscribers can add-on DVR functionality for an additional 99 cents per month.
The ivi TV player currently is available in Windows, Apple and Linux formats, and soon will be available on other platforms, including mobile devices, tablets (such as the iPad) and set-top-boxes.
The Seattle-based start-up describes itself as “highly disruptive,” taking aim at pay-TV providers and specifically cable subscribers. Read more
90% of Network TV Shows Available for Free Online
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, July 15, 2010 · ·
Approximately 90% of network TV episodes are available online, but taken down after six weeks or less, this according an exhaustive study performed by online video search site Clicker.
Clicker’s study includes shows that came online at any point during the fall or spring seasons from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and The CW. Clicker narrowed its focus to free streaming only—the study does not include paid downloads or video on demand (VoD) streaming from Netflix, Amazon or iTunes. Clicker determined that a surprisingly high percentage of episodes on broadcast TV were made available on ad-supported video websites. Read more