The copyright code has an exemption for nonprofits. Mr. Goodfriend, who does not draw a salary, said he has collected $10,000 in donations so far, mostly in $5 increments. He took out a high-interest loan, at around 15 percent, to fund the operation, which to date has cost more than $700,000.
Mr. Goodfriend is not a rich tech entrepreneur or a wealthy heir — just a lawyer who has made a decent living. Locast could still meet the fate of Aereo and be sued into financial oblivion by the networks. So why is he doing this?
The answer is partly principle, and partly intellectual mischief: With his public-private background, he has spotted an imbalance in the media ecosystem, he said, and decided to give the whole thing a shake.
“I ask people all the time, ‘Do you know you’re supposed to get television for free?’” Mr. Goodfriend said during an interview in Central Park, gesturing to a gaggle of visitors. “Most people under 50 don’t get it.”
Although his practice is in Washington, where he also teaches law at Georgetown and lectures at George Washington University, Mr. Goodfriend had come to New York to inspect the installation of the antenna, on the Trump International Hotel and Tower.
(This is another area where Locast has to operate carefully: The organization must install signal equipment in every city where it operates, because all broadcast stations are regional and retransmissions can be made only to local residents. If you live in, say, Miami, you can’t get Locast until Mr. Goodfriend puts up an antenna there.)
More Americans are receiving over-the-air TV signals for free lately — about 16 million households, up from 11 million eight years ago, according to Nielsen. But that number still pales in comparison with the 90 million homes that pay for video content, whether cable or satellite or Netflix.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/business/locast-streaming-free-network-tv.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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