On August 21st, the Second Circuit refused to hear Aereo’s cable system argument and remanded the case to the district court. It will now be up to the district court to decide whether Aereo’s “cable system” argument has any credibility.

While Aereo is entitled to continue its legal battle, the decision marks another major win for broadcasters. After its Supreme Court loss, Aereo shuttered its streaming service and has posted a “goodbye” letter on its website. It also promised to refund customers for their last paid month. It’s possible that Aereo could redesign its service to look more like a DVR system, bringing it within the bounds of copyright law, but it seems unlikely that Aereo will choose that route.

While the service may be discontinued, Aereo’s advocacy website remains up and running.

The case now returns to the lower court where a preliminary injunction will be imposed on Aereo’s “watch” service and other issues in the case will be considered. The case resulted in a significant split in the court. The majority, in finding that Aereo violated the “Transmit Clause” of the Copyright Act, viewed the company as a new-age cable provider and decided it should be treated as such. Under the licensing scheme created by the 1976 amendments to the Copyright Act, cable providers are required to compensate broadcast networks and copyright holders for their works. Aereo can continue to transmit over-the-air broadcast signals to subscribers in real-time, but the decision makes it clear that the company will have to pay broadcasters for the “right” to do so.

In contrast, the dissent, written by Justice Scalia, found that Aereo does not “perform.” The Justice took particular issue with the majority’s comparison of Aereo to a cable provider, stating that Aereo is not a “curator of content.” Moreover, he chastised the majority for providing “no criteria for determining when its cable-TV-lookalike rule applies.”

This round is a definitive win for broadcasters, and while start-ups may be somewhat shy in rolling out new technologies, this is not the end. Stay tuned for the next round of Aereo in the courts and for the next iteration of Aereo-like services to deploy new ways of providing access to broadcast television channels without paying retransmission consent fees.