Aereo Sued in a New City: Boston

The allegations against the antennae-based service are new, but the venue is different

As Aereo expands, so do the lawsuits against it: The antennae-based service is being sued by a Hearst-owned ABC affiliate in Boston, which accuses it of illegally restransmitting its signal to computers.

New York City-based Aereo is already being sued by the broadcast networks in its home city, where they also say it is stealing their signals. Aereo says it is merely harnessing the power of the humble antenna, just like people who use one to forgo cable.

CBS has previously threatened to sue Aereo in Boston, but a spokesman for the network declined to comment Tuesday on whether it would follow the lead of Hearst's WCVB.

An Aereo representative declined to comment.

Besides expanding to Boston in May, Aereo expanded to Atlanta last month. It has announced plans to move into 22 markets, including Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia.

Aereo streams video by capturing live TV signals using antennas small enough to fit on  fingertips. The company says it puts "tons" of antennas in data centers, then relays the signals to laptops, phones and tablets.

The company relays ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, the CW, Univision and PBS, among other networks available by antennae, but does not relay cable channels.

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