ivi TV: Live Network Television on the Net Without Negotiation?

A new Internet-connected software application, called "ivi tv" http://www.ivi.tv/, was released this week that allows PC, MAC and LINUX end users to stream live feeds from over-the-air television stations to their computers anywhere in the world, including feeds from ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, Telemundo, Univision and others. The small Seattle-based start-up behind the service, Ivi, Inc., currently charges user $4.99 a month for access, with the option to add DVR functionality for an extra 99 cents, and plans to expand the service to mobile devices and other platforms in the coming months.

Unlike other online content distributors, the start-up has allegedly sidestepped negotiating with the copyright holders for the license of its programming, and has instead elected to wager its future on a seemingly liberal interpretation of certain provisions of the Copyright Act (the "Act"), which permit qualifying "cable systems" to rebroadcast over-the-air television signals upon