December 2009

Why Net Neutrality Is Important for Startups, Innovation

[Commentary] How does Network Neutrality impact venture capital? The capitalistic system on and off the Internet encourages economic growth by the use of free and open markets to distribute goods. While some could argue that a free and open Internet means less regulation and oversight, experience leads Leinwand to believe that an Internet that encourages innovation and startups is one that supports net neutrality — and unless such neutrality is enforced, capitalism on the Internet is in serious jeopardy. Service providers need to accept the fact that net neutrality is the only way that capitalism on the Internet will survive. Without it, venture capital would no longer be able to fund innovative technology startups — the very same startups that will inevitably make service providers' offering attractive to consumers, as Google, Facebook, Twitter and countless others have done.

Concerns About Comcast-NBC

[Commentary] With technology changing Americans' media experience at breakneck speed, it might seem quaint to worry about the merger of an old-style cable company with a beleaguered broadcast TV company. But there is much to be concerned about in Comcast's proposed takeover of NBC and its sister company Universal Studios. The pairing of the nation's largest cable company with one of the leading television broadcasters, which also owns several popular cable networks, could limit choices and raise prices for viewers and advertisers. As they evaluate the proposed merger, antitrust and communications watchdog agencies should also consider the risks to the emerging business of delivering video entertainment over the Internet — the main competitive threat to cable TV. Regulators might demand that the merged companies divest stations. They could also require that Comcast's network carry content from independent cable channels. Online, regulators could demand that the company offer unbundled Internet content, and ensure that it is made available to consumers regardless of whether they buy cable or broadband services from Comcast. What regulators must not do is let this deal pass unchallenged. The risks to the development of the new media industry are too significant to simply ignore.

NBC-Comcast Deal Puts Broadcast TV in Doubt

"Everyone's now talking about NBC as a cable company, and Comcast is a cable company," a longtime NBC News staff member said. "I guess we're wondering, do they like broadcast?" At every turn, Comcast has emphasized to its own shareholders that the deal's purpose is to gain control over NBC Universal's fast-growing cable channels. The writer and humorist John Dillon observed Thursday that in the 2,742-word news release about the deal, the broadcast network was not mentioned until word 2,170. There is even talk of changing NBC Universal's name to play down the broadcast association. On the record, they do. Comcast says NBC and its affiliate structure will remain intact for the time being.

Ad World Looks for Progress From NBCU-Comcast

Now that the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal is official, the ad community is clamoring for the world's largest TV content company to change the way $60.5 billion in TV ads have been bought and sold for decades. Media-buying executives are hoping Comcast-NBCU can finally make some progress on addressable and interactive advertising, technologies that have been tested for years but have yet to scale beyond a small household footprint. "The issue is where is media going, and it's clearly going to an on-demand platform," said Steve Farella, CEO of TargetCast, an independent media agency that buys ads for clients like Expedia.com, Hotels.com and 1-800-Flowers.com. "What I'm dying to be able to do and do it in a short period of time is advertise my clients' products, build that brand and at the same time tell that consumer where to get it. ... We need to quickly move out of the test phase. Comcast, with the largest MSO platform, cannot keep testing these things."

You've Got Freedom: AOL ends ties with Time Warner

AOL is shaking loose from Time Warner Inc. and heading into the next decade the way it began this one, as an independent company. Unlike in the 1990s, though, when AOL got rich selling dial-up Internet access, it starts the 2010s as an underdog, trying to beef up its Web sites and grab more advertising revenue. Despite a few bright spots in its portfolio of sites, such as tech blog Engadget, AOL has a long way to go until Web advertising can replace the revenue it still gets from selling dial-up Internet access. One especially popular property, entertainment site TMZ, is a joint venture with a Time Warner unit that will keep TMZ and its revenue after AOL splits off. Now investors are getting a chance to place bets on AOL.

Lack of computer access hampers some students

The digital divide has narrowed dramatically in the past decade. About two-thirds of American households report using the Internet at home, according to the U.S. Census. In affluent Washington suburbs, the numbers are higher; more than 90 percent of Fairfax households with children have home computers, according to a recent survey by the school system. But even in Fairfax, the digital divide lives on in the study carrels of the Woodrow Wilson public library in the Falls Church area. Most afternoons, it is crowded with students from low-income or immigrant families using the computers. Although they live in one of the richest counties in the United States, these students recount skipping lunch to work at school labs or making long journeys to the public library after school. Such effort is necessary because students are doing much of their work online: reading textbooks, watching podcasts, using discussion boards and creating PowerPoint presentations. The most frequently searched-for Internet term in the Washington area this year is "fcps blackboard," according to Google. That's the Fairfax County system on which teachers post homework assignments and study guides, children ask questions or participate in discussion groups, and parents monitor class work.

FCC pushes for Internet access on your TV

If federal regulators have their way, the next big thing on the tech horizon will be a brave new world of Internet-ready, work-with-any-network set-top boxes, offering consumers unprecedented multimedia options through their TVs, not just their computers. And if this plays out as the Federal Communications Commission envisions, the world as cable companies know it will radically change, making the potential synergies of the Comcast-NBC deal all but obsolete. "The consumer will be king," said Colin Crowell, senior counselor to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "You'll be able to get your own set-top box that does all the whiz-bang things you want it to do, and you'll be in control." "Computers may be in 74% of American homes," Crowell said, "but televisions are in 99% of homes. Clearly, if your television offered a way to easily switch over to the Internet, we would be providing a way for all Americans to get online." The upshot, as the FCC sees it, is that consumers should be able to buy multi-system, Net-friendly set-top boxes in a newly energized marketplace where electronics companies vie for your business with innovative features and competitive prices. And your TV will at last live up to its long-ballyhooed potential as a multimedia device, allowing you to effortlessly access video programming, Internet content or entertainment services.

Iran blocks Internet, warns foreign media

On the eve of student demonstrations, Iran choked off Internet access and warned journalists working for foreign news media to stick to their offices for the next three days. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi threw his support behind the student demonstrations and declared on his website that his movement is alive. "A great nation would not stay silent when some confiscate its vote," said Mousavi, who claims President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole victory from him by fraud in the presidential election June 12.

Reality TV's Glare Hits High Office

[Commentary] When Barack Obama became president, he promised a "new era of openness." After almost a year of a media diet that seemed to be all-Obama, all-the-time that concluded in a reality-program couple crashing a state dinner at the White House, I'd be O.K. with the kimono closing a bit. Considering the White House's hulking, media-rich Web site, its Facebook page, photo galleries and podcasts on iTunes, the presidency seems less threatened by the incursion of a reality show than running an administration that is in danger of becoming one. One of the downsides of having a president who is also Celebrity in Chief is that it creates the impression that the leader of the free world is part of a milieu that is more TMZ than C-SPAN. In an effort to remain connected to the social media world that was so much a part of his electoral victory, the Obama administration may be guilty of a very contemporary common offense: Oversharing.

Local Governments Offer Data to Miners

Many local governments are figuring out how to use the Internet to make government data more accessible. The goal is to spawn useful Web sites and mobile applications — and perhaps even have people think differently about their city and its government. Advocates of these open-data efforts say they can help citizens figure out what is going on in their backyards and judge how their government is performing. But programmers have had trouble getting their hands on some data. And some activists and software developers wonder whether historically reticent governments will release data that exposes problems or only information that makes them look good. It is too early to say whether releasing city data will actually make civil servants more accountable, but it can clearly be useful. Even data about mundane things like public transit and traffic can improve people's lives when it is packaged and customized in an accessible way — a situation that governments themselves may not be equipped to realize.

Benton

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