May 2008

(5/24) Americans discouraged by higher gas prices and airline fares may decide to spend more vacation time at home, perhaps watching television. But that, too, will cost them more than ever. Cable prices have risen 77 percent since 1996, roughly double the rate of inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this month. Cable customers, who typically pay at least $60 a month, watch only a fraction of what they pay for — on average, a mere 13 percent of the 118 channels available to them. And the number of subscribers keeps growing. The resiliency of cable is all the more remarkable because the Internet was supposed to change all things digital. Technology has led to more choices and lower prices for news and music as well as cellphone and landline minutes — not to mention computers, cameras, music players and phones themselves.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/technology/24cable.html
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China unveiled plans for a long-awaited shake-up of its telecommunications sector that could enhance competition among its carriers and lead to billions of dollars in new contracts for global wireless-equipment companies. The restructuring, announced Saturday after years of preparation, will reshape China's telecom industry, one of the world's most lucrative with total revenue last year of 728 billion yuan ($104.9 billion). It will meld six main state-owned telecom companies into three full-service carriers offering fixed-line and wireless service nationwide. That will mean two more robust rivals for China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest wireless carrier, with about 400 million subscriber accounts, which dominates its sole competitor. The plan was announced in a statement from three ministries posted on a government Web site. It gave no timetable for execution, saying only that the companies should "as quickly as possible" report detailed arrangements for carrying out the plan.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121170876064020167.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
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A $1-billion copyright infringement lawsuit challenging YouTube's ability to keep copyrighted material off its popular video-sharing Internet website threatens how hundreds of millions of people exchange all kinds of information, YouTube owner Google said. Google's lawyers made the claim in papers filed in U.S. District Court in New York as the company responded to Viacom's latest lawsuit alleging that the Internet has led to "an explosion of copyright infringement" by YouTube and others. The back-and-forth between the companies has intensified since Viacom brought its lawsuit last year, saying it was owed damages for the unauthorized viewing of its programming from MTV, Comedy Central and other networks. In papers submitted to a judge late Friday, Google said YouTube "goes far beyond its legal obligations in assisting content owners to protect their works." It said that by seeking to make carriers and hosting providers liable for Internet communications, Viacom "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment and political and artistic expression."
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-youtube27-2008may27,0...
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Google co-founder Larry Page was in Washington on Thursday to promote the company's proposal for a new generation of wireless devices to operate on soon-to-be-vacant television airwaves. Page was scheduled to meet with lawmakers in Congress and officials at the Federal Communications Commission hoping to convince them to allow the "white space" between television channels to be accessed by low-power wireless devices. Page highlighted the benefits of making more spectrum available, while downplaying opposition from broadcasters, and makers and users of wireless microphones, who fear the wireless devices would cause interference.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN2250113020080522