A group of major networks has filed suit against billionaire Alki David's Aereokiller, requesting an injunction on the service in federal court in California.
Months after a Manhattan judge rejected a similar bid to shutter another service, which streams television programs over the internet, NBC Universal, ABC, CBS and Fox requested an injunction against Aereokiller in a Los Angeles courthouse, according to the lawsuit obtained by TheWrap.
The networks claim that the service disrupts their ability to negotiate retransmission contracts and earn advertising revenue from the shows that are rebroadcast online.
Aereokiller -- which competes with Barry Diller's New York-based service, Aereo -- claimed that it should be exempt from the injunction after a federal court in New York ruled in favor of Aereo in a similar suit in July.
Also read: Barry Diller Sues Copycat Site BarryDriller.com
"Aereokiller's copyright infringement must be enjoined to prevent irreparable injury to Plaintiffs," the suit said. "Aereokiller's unauthorized streaming of Plaintiffs' programming rips that control from Plaintiffs, threatens their core business models, destroys their leverage in critical distribution negotiations, harms their ability to expand into new markets and interferes with Plaintiffs' goodwill with licensed distributors and advertisers."
The service -- which was originally launched on BarryDriller.com -- later moved to FilmOn and launched the Aereokiller app on Android and other mobile platforms.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
For the record: An earlier version of this post said the lawsuit was against Barry Diller. It was against Alki David's Barry Driller Content Systems company.