US-based online video platform JadooTV has
denied allegations of piracy brought against it,
and has declared its intentions to defend its
position and take legal action against the
companies alleging it of doing so. Earlier this
year, in June a group of people from
Hyderabad were arrested for live streaming
satellite TV content through the Jadoo TV
platform.
JadooTV said it legally licenses content from
several content providers and offers it to
viewers as part of its JadooPLUS service,
adding that the myJadoo platform consists of
user-generated content, which JadooTV has no
control over. The company says that it
complies with legitimate takedown requests
from content owners, as per the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act. Note that the DMCA
is a US law and isn’t applicable in India,
although the IT Rules might be applicable in
this case.
Jadoo TV has said it has hired the services of a
top law firm to defend its position and take
action against companies or individuals
accusing it of piracy.
JadooTV essentially sells set-top boxes for TVs
and offers content for free via an ad supported
model. The set-top box streams content via the
Internet from channels like 9XM, Aaj Tak and
Zoom in India, among others. The company
also claims to have ‘thousands’ of movies along
with over 250,000+ hours of content on
demand. It also offers its service via a self-
branded Android tablet called Jadoo Tab.
The Hyderabad raid
The company partners with several TV channels
in the aforementioned countries and the
content streamed is completely legal. However
some alleged members of the Pearl Media
Group , a partner in providing content since
2012, were arrested on charges of piracy after
streaming channels illegally.
The group in question was arrested on a
complaint by Maa TV Network’s Manager-
Distribution Krishna Kumar on 29th June this
year. Operating from an apartment rented to
‘M/S Pearl Technology’ the group would
subscribe for DTH TV connections and convert
the signal for streaming through JadooTV.
Interestingly, Pearl Media Group Ltd along with
JadooTV Inc and Altair Technologies Pvt. Ltd
were acquired in March this year by
CloudStream Media Inc. Before the acquisition,
Pearl Media Group Ltd would have been seen
as a third party content provider on JadooTV,
now however the liability rests with
CloudStream Media.
Legitimacy of JadooTV service: There was a
question mark over the legitimacy of live TV
streams on JadooTV. In fact, when we had first
written about the service in 2012 a strange
notice at the bottom of the website had raised
concerns. The notice read: “JadooTV is not
responsible for the content and does not
guarantee nor claims any rights to the content.
JadooTV is providing the streams of all the
channels as they are available on the internet.”
Also, the Terms of Use Agreement & Copyrights
sections on the JadooTV website has no
mention about JadooPlus.
Aereo case: In June 2014, the US Supreme
Court had a passed a verdict against Internet
TV service Aereo, stating that the service
breaches the broadcasters copyright. The
verdict equated Aereo’s service to that of a
cable company that streams content without a
license. Aereo’s services are on hold at the
moment, and the case has returned to the
lower court. http://www.medianama.com/2014/08/223-jadootv-piracy-hyderabad/
denied allegations of piracy brought against it,
and has declared its intentions to defend its
position and take legal action against the
companies alleging it of doing so. Earlier this
year, in June a group of people from
Hyderabad were arrested for live streaming
satellite TV content through the Jadoo TV
platform.
JadooTV said it legally licenses content from
several content providers and offers it to
viewers as part of its JadooPLUS service,
adding that the myJadoo platform consists of
user-generated content, which JadooTV has no
control over. The company says that it
complies with legitimate takedown requests
from content owners, as per the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act. Note that the DMCA
is a US law and isn’t applicable in India,
although the IT Rules might be applicable in
this case.
Jadoo TV has said it has hired the services of a
top law firm to defend its position and take
action against companies or individuals
accusing it of piracy.
JadooTV essentially sells set-top boxes for TVs
and offers content for free via an ad supported
model. The set-top box streams content via the
Internet from channels like 9XM, Aaj Tak and
Zoom in India, among others. The company
also claims to have ‘thousands’ of movies along
with over 250,000+ hours of content on
demand. It also offers its service via a self-
branded Android tablet called Jadoo Tab.
The Hyderabad raid
The company partners with several TV channels
in the aforementioned countries and the
content streamed is completely legal. However
some alleged members of the Pearl Media
Group , a partner in providing content since
2012, were arrested on charges of piracy after
streaming channels illegally.
The group in question was arrested on a
complaint by Maa TV Network’s Manager-
Distribution Krishna Kumar on 29th June this
year. Operating from an apartment rented to
‘M/S Pearl Technology’ the group would
subscribe for DTH TV connections and convert
the signal for streaming through JadooTV.
Interestingly, Pearl Media Group Ltd along with
JadooTV Inc and Altair Technologies Pvt. Ltd
were acquired in March this year by
CloudStream Media Inc. Before the acquisition,
Pearl Media Group Ltd would have been seen
as a third party content provider on JadooTV,
now however the liability rests with
CloudStream Media.
Legitimacy of JadooTV service: There was a
question mark over the legitimacy of live TV
streams on JadooTV. In fact, when we had first
written about the service in 2012 a strange
notice at the bottom of the website had raised
concerns. The notice read: “JadooTV is not
responsible for the content and does not
guarantee nor claims any rights to the content.
JadooTV is providing the streams of all the
channels as they are available on the internet.”
Also, the Terms of Use Agreement & Copyrights
sections on the JadooTV website has no
mention about JadooPlus.
Aereo case: In June 2014, the US Supreme
Court had a passed a verdict against Internet
TV service Aereo, stating that the service
breaches the broadcasters copyright. The
verdict equated Aereo’s service to that of a
cable company that streams content without a
license. Aereo’s services are on hold at the
moment, and the case has returned to the
lower court. http://www.medianama.com/2014/08/223-jadootv-piracy-hyderabad/
