U.S. Supreme Court wrestles with outdated copyright laws.

• Position: COPYRIGHT - Copyright case of boradcasting industry - Brief article

A copyright case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court illustrates just how out of date some copyright laws are, especially given the advent of the cloud. Broadcasters contend that Aereo, a 2-year-old company that retransmits over-the-air-broadcast television to its paying customers using thousands of dime-sized antennas, is violating U.S. copyright law because it doesn't have the broadcasters' permission to do that.

According to an Ars Technica article, companies such as Microsoft, Google, Mozilla, Yahoo, and others, fear a decision in favor of the broadcasters "would threaten one of the most important and emerging industries in the U.S. economy: cloud computing."

Under current law, Aereo is free to retransmit broadcast signals without paying licensing fees, something cable companies can't even do. A federal appeals court likened the company's approach to providing three devices: a standard TV antenna, a DVR, and a Slingbox. The broadcasters counter that it's a copyright breach because Aereo hasn't paid fees...