1. Monthly archive
  2. December 2014

December 2014

As Comcast merger enters final phase, deal may be on thin ice

[Commentary] Views of the potential Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger have shifted amid growing public concern over the state of US broadband, which is rapidly eclipsing pay TV as consumers’ go-to source for entertainment and information.

Meanwhile, Comcast’s rivals have gained momentum in their quest to stop the deal. The final outcome of the review process involves many wild cards -- from the fate of network neutrality to Republican control of Congress -- but it’s safe to say for now, based on evidence and experts, that the merger’s chances of passing are lower than they were a few months ago. The final outcome, though, is likely to be determined by a combination of politics and straight-up policy analysis.

[Dec 24]

‘The Interview’ to Stream on YouTube, Google Play, Xbox in Unique Sony Release

Google Play, YouTube Movies and Microsoft’s Xbox Video will all stream Sony’s “The Interview” starting Christmas Eve in a unique theatrical and video-on-demand release for the controversial comedy that has now rallied wide support. The studio confirmed the video-on-demand release a day after announcing it had reversed a decision to pull the Seth Rogen film from theaters. The studio has also set up its own website where the movie can be streamed.

[Dec 24]

You won't get hacked by streaming 'The Interview' online

If you think hackers will hurt you for streaming "The Interview" on your computer, relax.

The chances of getting hacked by streaming "The Interview" are pretty slim. Hackers are likely to try either to block the movie by flooding Google or Microsoft with Internet traffic, or to lace online ads with malware (also known as malvertising). Neither is likely to work as Google and Microsoft have excellent defense against so-called denial of service attacks and the companies have ways of detecting malvertising before it reaches your computer. So, if you want to stand brave in the face of unsubstantiated physical threats hackers made against movie theaters, head to the few, small theaters showing it around the country. But if you plan to exercise your love of freedom and liberty from home, know you'll be safe.

[Dec 24]

YouTube could be battling expensive lawsuit over Pharrell and other popular music

YouTube could soon be battling an expensive lawsuit if it doesn't soon pull down hit songs from the likes of the Eagles and Pharrell.

A music licensing group that owns 20,000 songs, including from those popular artists, says its songs are illegally posted online and has threatened to sue YouTube for big bucks. Global Music Rights is "getting closer to having no alternative" but to file a massive lawsuit against YouTube, attorney Howard King said. He said US copyright law allows the group to sue for $150,000 in damages per violation. That means the suit could total $3 billion on paper, even though it's unlikely a court would levy that large a penalty.

[Dec 24]

Minneapolis residents to get 10-gigabit fiber, for $400 per month

While most parts of the US have to make do with Internet speeds of less than 100Mbps -- in many cases much less than 100Mbps -- some residents of Minneapolis will soon have access to a ludicrously fast fiber-to-the-home speed tier: 10 gigabits per second.

The service is offered by US Internet, the company that already provides "a couple thousand" Minneapolis residents with 1Gbps service for $65 per month. The 10Gbps service will be available immediately to existing customers willing to pay the $400-per-month fee, though US Internet expects the number of customers who take them up on the deal to be relatively small. In Summer 2015, the company plans to widen its service area to the west side of I-35W, which will encroach further into the incumbent Comcast's territory.

[Dec 24]

Sony hack points to NSA's conflicting roles

[Commentary] Sony Pictures made a mistake in pulling the satire "The Interview" from movie theaters. But rather than look for help from China to solve the problem, President Barack Obama needs to look inward, at his own federal government, to address the broader security issues underlying this and other damaging hacking, whether foreign or domestic. The issue is the National Security Agency's conflicting mission, which makes it a perpetrator of what is a crime when it's done by a foreign government. The President either needs to separate the competing NSA missions or, more appropriately, direct the agency to start caring more about protecting American businesses than about spying on them.

[Dec 24]

No rules of cyber war

President Barack Obama’s promise of an American response to the apparent hacking of Sony databases by North Korea has Washington squarely confronting a new national security reality that has been the subject of mostly abstract debate for more than a decade.

“Unlike plans for possible conventional military attacks in hotspots, the US doesn’t have off-the-shelf response plans for cyberattacks of this sort,” said Matthew Waxman, a former senior State and Defense Department official. With limited experience to draw from -- the Sony attack has no clear precedent -- Administration officials have struggled to define different kinds of cyberattacks and how to respond to them. International law and the laws of war offer only partial guidance, experts say. And strategic thinking about how to punish a hacker without inviting an even more damaging response is still evolving.

[Dec 24]

Comcast-TWC Rips Discovery, Netflix in FCC Merger Comments

Comcast and Time Warner Cable lit into their opponents as the two companies defended their $45 billion merger before the Federal Communications Commission.

In a 139-page public portion of their filing to urge the FCC to approve the deal, the companies said they have demonstrated that the transaction “will deliver substantial public interest benefits and generate no cognizable competitive harms.” They suggested the deal’s opponents have offered little more than “rhetoric” and “unsupported conclusions” compared with the companies’ “extraordinarily robust” evidence that the merger is “strongly in the public interest.” They accused CenturyLink and Dish Network of “blatantly seeking protection from the forces of fair competition that would benefit consumers”; Discovery, RFD-TV, TheBlaze, and Back9 of attempting to command higher fees and terms “they could not reasonably expect in the competitive marketplace”; and Netflix and Cogent of trying to use the review to pursue objectives that had nothing to do with the transaction. The two also accused public interest groups of “asserting the same worn and unconvincing theories of harm that they have raised in virtually every industry transaction over the past two decades” and upbraided potential competitors Viamedia, RCN and Comtel for “making half-hearted efforts” to find a link to the transaction so they could achieve “parochial business interests.” The companies also dismissed as “patently absurd” Discovery’s concerns that Comcast would use its control of the Internet pipe to limit video competition.

[Dec 24]

ABC, CBS, Fox Affiliates In Deal With Comcast

The ABC, CBS and Fox affiliates have agreed not to oppose Comcast’s $45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable in exchange for commitments from NBCU’s owner not to discriminate against broadcast stations owned by others -- or to lobby against retransmission consent, according to a Dec. 23 affiliate filing at the Federal Communications Commission.

Under the deal, the TWC acquisition would include a series of conditions that would bar Comcast from discriminating in favor of NBCU-owned or operated stations over retransmission consent -- and other issues -- for 10 years after the TWC deal closes. Among other things, the conditions require Comcast to negotiate retransmission consent deals in good faith, without any collaboration with NBCU. [Dec 24]

Spectrum auctions and deals reveal demand for capacity

[Commentary] One of the loudest signals wireless carriers in the market sent this year is: carriers want spectrum, and they are willing to pay huge amounts of money to get it.

This demand has been most vividly illustrated in the ongoing AWS-3 spectrum auction, but is also evident elsewhere. And though it has been delayed until 2016, many believe the Federal Communications Commission's planned auction of TV broadcasters' 600 MHz licenses could generate even more money, due to that band's more favorable propagation characteristics. Spectrum has always been a sought-after item in the wireless industry, but the AWS-3 auction indicates that carriers are ravenous for capacity -- and that they don't think that they will get another opportunity to add such large amounts of spectrum to their reserves anytime soon.

[Dec 24]

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