Broadcasters Trading Up: Supreme Court Says Aereo Breaks The Rules

Stocks in the broadcast sector jumped on news that streaming media service Aereo violates copyright laws, according to a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

The ruling delivered Wednesday by Justice Stephen Breyer found that Aereo had violated the Copyright Act of 1976 by allowing subscribers to watch television programs over the Internet at about the same time as the programs are broadcast over the air.

The service costs between $8 and $20 per month.

Dissenting were justices Anthony Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Scalia, who wrote the dissent, said the court adopted "looks-like-cable-TV" improvised standard that will "sow confusion for years to come."

At issue was whether Aereo “performs" in the sense implied by the Copyright Act. Justices concluded that it does, rather than merely supplying equipment that allows others to do so as the company had claimed.

Names trading up on the news included Twenty-First Century Fox FOXA up 1.2 percent to $34.62; Comcast CMCSA up 1.25 percent to $53.25; Walt Disney Co. DIS at $83.91, up 1.49 percent; and CBS CBS up 4.91 percent at $61.73.