BarryDriller.com: Fox Sues Aereo-Like Start-Up for Streaming Broadcast TV

By Rob Scott
August 14, 2012

Fox has filed suit against start-up BarryDriller.com for using a system of antennas to retransmit its Los Angeles affiliate KTTV without permission.
The Aereo-like service was created by Alki David, whose efforts to stream broadcast signals through FilmOn.com was shut down by a federal court in 2010.
“Last month, a New York federal judge, Alison Nathan, declined to immediately put a halt to Aereo, which streams signals to subscribers via thousands of dime-sized antennas,” reports Variety. “By declining to issue a preliminary injunction, Nathan delivered a blow to the networks, which say that such services undercut their business models. They are in the midst of pursuing an appeal.”
In the wake of the Aereo decision, David launched BarryDriller.com — the name of which serves as a play on Aereo’s most famous investor, Barry Diller.
It is an “homage to a great guy and at the same time it’s drilling him a bit,” David told the Wall Street Journal.
At $5.95 per month, the new service is offered at a lower price point than Aereo, and David says he’ll pay retransmission fees to the networks.
“David said that BarryDriller is in four major markets — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis — and plans to launch in San Francisco and Dallas in the next two weeks,” notes Variety. “He also said that FilmOn is launching its first broadcast channel in the country, KILM-TV Channel 64, in Los Angeles starting on September 1.”

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