Senator Warren replies to my letter in support of Aereo after the Supreme Court ruled against them

Thank you for contacting me about the Supreme Court’s decision in American Broadcasting Companies v. Aereo.

As you may know, the Supreme Court of the United States held in a 6-3 decision that Aereo violated broadcasters’ copyrights in providing a service that let subscribers watch local broadcast television through the Internet using small antennas stored with the company.

It is not surprising that consumers are gravitating toward innovative services like Aereo that are relatively new in a space that is largely controlled by traditional entertainment and subscription TV companies.  According to data from the American Customer Service Index, subscription TV companies, including cable companies, had the lowest customer satisfaction scores of dozens of industries surveyed, with customer satisfaction falling 4.4% in the last year, due to a host of complaints, including high prices, poor customer service, spotty reliability and lack of consumer choice.  It is important that our communications policies promote competition and consumer choice.  It is also important that the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department be vigilant in scrutinizing proposed mergers in this landscape – such as the proposed transaction between Comcast and Time Warner Cable – that aim to consolidate dominant market players.

I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with me, and I hope that you will reach out to my office if I can ever be of assistance.