Aereo suspends service following court ruling

WASHINGTON — Streaming television company Aereo pulled the plug on its service at least temporarily Saturday after the Supreme Court ruled that its business is illegal. The court said Wednesday that Aereo’s service violates copyright law because the firm does not pay the same fees as cable companies when streaming live television broadcasts to devices such as computers or smartphones.

Service in all of Aereo’s 11 markets nationwide stopped as of 8:30 a.m. Pacific time Saturday. Subscribers will be refunded for their last paid month, Aereo chief executive Chet Kanojia wrote in a letter sent to customers and posted on the company’s website.

The court’s decision dealt a death blow to the start-up’s business model. The company has vowed to fight on but will have to radically change its business model to do so.

Kanojia’s letter noted that Aereo would only “pause our operations temporarily” as the company figured out its next steps.

He also encouraged Aereo supporters to continue lobbying for change and sign up for updates at ProtectMyAntenna.org, the company’s advocacy site.

“The spectrum that the broadcasters use to transmit over the air programming belongs to the American public and we believe you should have a right to access that live programming whether your antenna sits on the roof of your home, on top of your television or in the cloud,” he wrote in the letter.