Federal Judge Blocks Free Streaming Network TV

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Chalk up another victory for old broadcast media – or, perhaps, one for people not stealing content. A federal judge has sided with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and issued a temporary restraining order against FilmOn.com, a site that streams content from television channels to mobile devices for free – without securing permission from the channels in the first place. In response to the restraining order from District Court Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the Southern District of New York, FilmOn CEO Alki David issued a statement saying that the site had “temporarily ceased retransmission of free network television,” but added that the site would continue with content partnerships from independent broadcast channels in the future.

This is only one of two legal battles the networks are pursuing over the matter of online retransmission of broadcast signals; Seattle-based start-up ivi is also facing legal action for doing the same thing as FilmOn.

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