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Fox sues upstart TV streaming service BarryDriller.com

The network claims the Aereo copycat is violating its copyrights by retransmitting the programming on one of its affiliates.

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Steven Musil
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Fox has filed a lawsuit against another TV streaming service, alleging that BarryDriller.com is violating its copyrights by retransmitting the programming of one if its affiliates.

The network filed a lawsuit against the upstart service Friday in Los Angeles, claiming BarryDriller.com violates its right of public performance by streaming the signal of L.A. affiliate KTTV to BarryDriller.com subscribers without authorization, according to a Variety report. The site, which just launched this week, streams New York channel programming, as well as that of KTTV-DT, to subscribers for $5.95 a month.

"No amount of technological gimmickry by Defendants changes the fundamental principle of copyright law that those who wish to retransmit Plaintiffs' broadcasts may do so only with Plaintiffs' authority," the lawsuit states.

The site is apparently named after Barry Diller, a chief backer of rival TV streaming service Aereo, which has also been peppered with copyright infringement lawsuits from the four major television networks. However, a federal judge last month denied a request by the networks to prevent the streaming service from rebroadcasting their programs over the Internet.

The site is run by Alki David, who told the Wall Street Journal last week that he aims to compete with Aereo.

CNET has contacted David for contact and will update this report when we lean more. However, he apparently has his work cut out for him for the other networks to take him seriously.

"We don't see him as a threat, we don't even see him as a real business," Louis Briskman, general counsel at CBS, told the Journal. "If we find that he is using our content in an unauthorized way we will explore our legal options." (CBS is the parent company of CNET News.com.)