U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan granted a nationwide preliminary injunction barring Aereo from streaming broadcast content while it's still being aired by broadcasters, in an order released Thursday (http://bit.ly/1yr2szD). Though broadcasters also had requested that the injunction bar Aereo from offering a time-shifted stream of broadcaster content (see 1410150094), Nathan said that at previous stages of the case and before the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs limited their arguments to content that was being rebroadcast live. “Plaintiffs will be held to their earlier decision, strategic or otherwise, to seek a preliminary injunction limited in scope to enjoining retransmission of their copyrighted works while the works are still being broadcast,” the order said. The judge dismissed Aereo’s arguments that it shouldn’t be enjoined because the Supreme Court’s Aereo decision had classified it as a cable system. “While all cable systems may perform publicly, not all entities that perform publicly are necessarily cable systems, and nothing in the Supreme Court's opinion indicates otherwise,” Nathan said. She said the high court’s decision did not contradict the ivi decision that online video providers aren’t multichannel video programming distributors, and the justices' silence on whether Aereo should get a compulsory copyright license showed that Aereo should not. “Within two weeks of this Opinion and Order, the parties shall submit a joint letter outlining how the case should proceed,” Nathan said. “In light of the extensive discovery period that has already taken place, this Court intends to set a rapid schedule for the completion of discovery, so that the case may proceed expeditiously to the final merits stage.”

Dish Network again said Comcast's planned buy of Time Warner Cable presents serious competitive concerns for the broadband and video markets and should be denied. The combined company would control half of the broadband pipes in the U.S. that have speeds of at least 25 Mbps, Dish said Thursday in an ex parte filing in docket 14-57. The company also “will be on a path to virtual dominance of the high-speed broadband market” because it will pass close to 70 percent of pay-TV households, it said. If the deal is approved, the company would offer only a single over-the-top service, “or perhaps forego altogether launching a nationwide OTT service, thus depriving consumers of important competitive choices,” it said. No conditions “would remedy the serious competitive harms posed by this merger,” Dish said. The filing pertained to meetings with several FCC staff, including from the Media Bureau, Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.

Outerwall subsidiary Redbox and Verizon signed a withdrawal agreement Oct. 19 in which Redbox withdrew as a member of Verizon and Redbox Digital Entertainment Services, according to an SEC filing (http://bit.ly/10oGHp1). Under the agreement, all of Redbox’s rights under the joint venture’s operating agreement will be extinguished and all outstanding amounts including expense reimbursements will be settled in exchange for a payment of $16.8 million to Redbox. Outerwall has made total cash capital contributions to the venture of $77 million and has received total cash totaling $70.5 million, including revenue attributable to DVD and Blu-ray rentals, the filing said. Redbox Instant by Verizon ceased consumer operations Oct. 7.

Nielsen and Adobe partnered to deliver a comprehensive, cross-platform system for measuring online TV, video and other digital content across the Web and apps. Nielsen’s digital audience measurement products will be integrated with Adobe’s digital analytics and online TV delivery platforms, they said Tuesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1zjlMD7). This lets customers have comparable metrics to measure audiences across every major IP device, including smartphones, tablets and over-the-top boxes, it said. Media companies and advertisers can use the new system in 2015, it said.

The proposed AT&T buy of DirecTV received support from Information Technology Industry Council and Washington Technology Industry Association. AT&T’s commitments to deploy fixed wireless local loop technology to new AT&T customers “is a significant step toward meeting our nation’s broadband needs,” ITI said in comments posted in docket 14-90 (http://bit.ly/1yVUl0V). The FCC should give significant consideration to the broadband investment and deployment commitments from AT&T, it said. Buying DirecTV is a “natural,” necessary, competitive response to the pressure applied by Comcast, WTIA said (http://bit.ly/1py71CB). Results from the deal include a stronger negotiating position with content creators “to ensure broader access to high value content for consumers,” it said.

Officials from Cablevision met with FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and staff from the Media Bureau and Office of General Counsel last week to discuss the “upcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” on the definition of a multichannel video programming distributor, according to an ex parte filing posted online Monday (http://bit.ly/1onctgP). FCC personnel have said such an item is only in the conceptual stages (see 1410010053), though a speech by General Counsel Jonathan Sallet last week also referred to a possible rule change (see 1410170039).

“Legacy” rules like franchising and must carry requirements shouldn’t be applied to over-the-top video providers as they are to cable operators, Verizon officials said in a meeting with Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake last week, according to an ex parte notice posted online Monday (http://bit.ly/1CMjecU). If the definition of multichannel video programming distributor is changed to include online linear video providers, such rules “could be fatal” to OTT services, Verizon said. Native device rules also shouldn’t apply to OTT providers, Verizon said. “The Commission must allow OTT video providers the flexibility to adopt different technologies for providing their services rather than imposing legacy technology mandates,” Verizon said.

Rentrak received a patent for a system that measures when a set-top box is on while the TV it's attached to is off, said Rentrak in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1t532CE). “This is an important component of Rentrak's massive and passive ratings service, which will soon measure 60 million” such boxes for live and DVR viewing, said the release. Knowing when the box is on and the TV is off is “crucial” to using STBs to measure viewing, because it often occurs, Rentrak said.

Fletcher Heald will present a free webinar on must carry rights and retransmission consent on Oct. 23, at 1 p.m. ET, the law firm said on its blog (http://bit.ly/1CrBF6G). The webinar will be conducted by Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Dan Kirkpatrick and cable attorney Paul Feldman. "It will address a long list of post-election issues that both TV folks and cable folks should be focused on."

CBS launched CBS All Access, a digital subscription VOD product that will offer thousands of episodes from the current and previous seasons, and the ability to stream local CBS stations live in 14 of the largest U.S. markets, CBS said Wednesday (http://bit.ly/ZGmfif). The platform is available at CBS.com and on Apple and Android devices for $5.99 per month, it said. It will be available on other connected devices in the coming months, CBS said. CBS has said that it might move to a pay-TV platform if Aereo wins in litigation at the Supreme Court concerning its online streaming service (see 1305030041).