OVERNIGHT TECH: Broadcasters appeal decision allowing Aereo to operate

The Lede: A group of broadcasters appealed a judge's ruling on Thursday to refuse to shut down the Internet video service Aereo.

The broadcasters claim that Aereo, which allows New York City customers to stream television channels on their computers and mobile devices, violates copyright law.

"We're confident that on appeal Aereo will be found to be a copyright infringer," Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters, said in an email.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan denied a motion from the broadcasters to immediately shut down Aereo.

She acknowledged that the broadcasters are likely to suffer "irreparable harm" as Aereo continues to operate, noting that the service could poach viewers from satellite and cable providers, who pay the broadcasters to carry their channels. 

But she concluded that based on the legal precedent, the broadcasters are not likely to win their case, and that it would be inappropriate to grant their motion to immediately block the service.

She said Aereo's service is similar to Cablevision's remote video recording system, which a federal appeals court ruled did not violate copyright law in a 2008 case.

Aereo is currently only available in New York City, but Barry Diller, the company's primary financial backer, told Bloomberg on Thursday that by the end of 2013, the company will be in most major markets.

Yahoo confirms hack: Yahoo on Thursday confirmed it suffered a breach that compromised the security of 400,000 usernames and passwords. A group of hackers called D33D Company claimed responsibility for the breach. 

Yahoo spokeswoman Dana Lengkeek told The New York Times in a statement that the affected accounts belonged to Yahoo's Contributor Network and that less than 5 percent of the passwords posted by the hacker group were still valid.

“We are fixing the vulnerability that led to the disclosure of this data, changing the passwords of the affected Yahoo users and notifying companies whose user accounts may have been compromised,” Lengkeek told the Times. “We apologize to affected users. We encourage users to change their passwords on a regular basis.” 

Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) tweeted that the breach should spur lawmakers to act on her data breach bill. "400,000 people impacted by data breach at Yahoo," Bono Mack tweeted. "Congress needs to pass my SAFE DATA Act now!"

FCC moves on public safety network: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachwoski circulated an order on Thursday that would move ahead with a nationwide broadband network for responders.

The order, which has not been voted on yet, would terminate waivers from local and state agencies trying to build their own portions of the network. Local agencies that are already close to competing a system that would be interoperable with the national network can apply for "special temporary authority" to continue their projects.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is taking the lead on building the national network, called FirstNet. Congress authorized the network as part of tax cut extension legislation passed earlier this year. 

Betaworks buys Digg: Betaworks on Thursday agreed to purchase news-sharing website Digg for a mere $500,000, a bargain price for a site that raised $45 million in investor funding, according to The Wall Street Journal. Founded by Kevin Rose, Digg was one of the Web's first social media websites. It was later eclipsed by social media giants Facebook and Twitter, and last year, for the first time social newswebsite Reddit drew more traffic, the Journal says.

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