December 2013

The Obama Administration issued guidance for people who were kicked off HealthCare.gov during its first two rocky months or who steered clear of the ailing website entirely. For people who began the enrollment process on the Obama administration’s troubled online health insurance marketplace but got stuck by a website error, the Health and Human Services Department guidance recommends removing the existing application and starting over. For those who believe they completed the enrollment process but aren’t sure because the website was glitchy, the agency suggests calling the insurance company to confirm or, if the purchaser can’t figure out how to reach the insurance company, calling HealthCare.gov’s 800-number.

[Commentary] At a highly appropriate venue -- a Google Plus hangout -- two Republican heavyweights announced that they will begin rewriting the Communications Act, a 1934 relic that was revised most recently in 1996. The act set up the regulatory structure for telephones, television, radio, and a fledgling technology called the Internet. It is, to put it mildly, out of date. Reopening any gigantic piece of law is a risk. In this case, what legislators must keep in mind is that the Internet has thrived because it has been largely a regulation-free zone. The next regulatory structure for communications in general should look like the structure for the Internet: light touch and flexible. We’re happy to see Chairmen Upton and Walden leading the way.

That’s a small decrease (and it’s still more than people were watching in 2011) but it’s still a decrease. Hence: End of TV. Right? Nope. For whatever reason, the Nielsen chart doesn’t factor in video-on-demand viewing. And video-on-demand viewing is skyrocketing. Comcast, the country’s biggest pay TV provider, said 70 percent of its subscribers watch stuff on demand, and that TV shows account for 40 percent of its usage. (If you factor in pay-TV channels like HBO, the number jumps up to 60 percent.) So once you do factor in on-demand usage, you see a different story.

A lawsuit with the potential to shake up commonly held assumptions about the broadcasting of older music will be staying in California. In response to the first California lawsuit led by members of The Turtles, Sirius argued that the plaintiffs were playing "lawsuit lottery" and sought to have the case transferred to New York and perhaps consolidated.

US District Judge Philip Gutierrez denied Sirius' motion and spoke about the huge stakes involved. The cases against Sirius are premised on the bold notion that Sirius can't rely on statutory royalty rates set up by federal law for pre-1972 songs. The plaintiffs are making the argument that copyright holders on these older tunes maintain control over their public performance rights. But if that's true, why stop at Sirius? Perhaps television and radio broadcasters, restaurant and bar owners, website operators and others also lack valid licenses to perform pre-1972 music.