Flush with victory after AT&T agreed to carry the rural TV channel, RFD-TV had some encouraging words for the DirecTV acquisition in comments at the Federal Communications Commission. It stopped short of endorsing the merger, using the comments more as a platform to push the FCC to put rural carriage conditions on the Comcast/TWC deal if it approves it.
Netflix told the Federal Communications Commission that without conditions guarding against what it suggests are anticompetitive paid peering and data cap practices, the FCC should not approve the AT&T/DirecTV deal.
Netflix said that AT&T has made it clear it sees online video distributors as a threat to their own video offerings and could and had used its market power to degrade customers Netflix access until Netflix agreed to pay "a terminating access fee" (paid peering). It said that without conditions to insure OVD competition, the combined company has the incentive and ability to harm edge providers, practices that will not be "disciplined" by competition in the broadband market.
Comcast filed with the Federal Communications Commission a detailed response to questions asked by the FCC.
Comcast's filing is redacted, with many answers about its business removed for competitive reasons. Many questions are also left unanswered, with Comcast promising to respond to them at a later time. Nonetheless, the answers paint a picture of the competitive cable universe that Comcast argues bolsters its case for merging with Time Warner Cable. Comcast details various potential competitors to its video service, noting the launch of Google Fiber and the enormous success of Netflix. Then there are consumer device companies, like Sony, Microsoft and Apple. The company also cites the rise in the number of cable channels, as well as online channels, as a source of competition to its core service.
The Internet Association is urging the Federal Communications Commission to consider blocking state laws that ban cities from building out their own Internet networks.
The FCC “should use the full weight of its authority to prevent any private or public entity from inhibiting the deployment of broadband networks or standing in the way of increased competition in providing those services,” wrote the group, which includes Google, Yahoo, Netflix and other industry titans. “The commission is right to carefully examine state laws adopted to prevent a local government from creating a high speed broadband service, especially in municipalities that are underserved,” it added. “[I]n conducting its assessment, the commission should carefully examine not only whether these state laws are standing in the way of deployment of broadband into new areas, but whether they are impeding the deployment of truly advanced services.”
Associated Press’ list of eight ways the Obama administration is making it hard for journalists to find information and cover the news:
The Administrative Office of the US Courts (or AO) has a plan to restore online access to documents that were controversially removed in August from PACER, the online system for accessing public court records, a spokesperson said.
"The Administrative Office is working to restore electronic access to these cases by converting the docket sheets in these cases to PDF format which will allow us to make them available in PACER," said David Sellers, assistant director for public affairs at the AO. "This process will be completed in the four appellate courts by the end of October. We are also working to provide a similar solution for the dockets on the legacy system in the California Central bankruptcy court." On Aug 10, access to some archives of five courts, including four US federal appellate courts, were removed with little public notice. Weeks later after being pressed by the media, the AO released an explanation: The way that those courts had set up their electronic case files were not compatible with a new system being rolled out by the judiciary, the agency said. Recently, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) sent a letter to the AO pushing for the restoration of the documents, and raising concerns that Congress was not informed or consulted in the change.
The Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued a Public Notice seeking comment on whether certain docketed proceedings should be terminated as dormant.
This Public Notice addresses open proceedings in which no action has been taken or pleading filed since late 2008, or in which no further action is required or contemplated. The Bureau said to the extent that a particular proceeding includes a petition addressing the merits or other pending pleadings, a party’s failure to file comments in response to this Public Notice will be construed as consent to termination of that proceeding.
Affluent Americans are highly engaged with traditional television but their digital media consumption is increasing significantly, according to a 2014 affluent survey conducted by global research company Ipsos.
More than 90% of Affluents -- defined in the survey as the 23% of US households with at least $100,000 in yearly household income -- watched video on traditional television screens over as 7 day period, according to the report. In addition, 44% watched video on a computer, with both figures virtually unchanged from last year. Nearly half of all Affluents have a TV connected to the Internet, 23% own a smart TV, and 23% have a TV connected to a digital media receiver or streaming device -- all of which are up significantly from 2013, according to the survey. Wealthy Americans also watch 16 hours of traditional broadcast or cable television a week -- virtually matching last year’s figures -- and tune into an average of more than 15 cable channels a week.
[Commentary] Apple CEO Tim Cook’s privacy manifesto might have succeeded in placating consumers wary after the recent celebrity iCloud-hacking scandal, but it was less successful as a swipe (and a not-too-subtle one at that) at the company’s fiercest rival, Google.
Apple might want to paint Google as the poster boy for big data and ad-supported services, but that doesn’t make Google’s strategy any worse or mean that Apple isn’t picking and choosing when to follow the same strategy itself. Missing amid all the talk about the types of data Apple doesn’t collect or analyze is any reference to the benefits that derive from a company’s practice of analyzing user data. As the demands on our time and attention continue to increase -- and we start strapping computers to our bodies as well as carrying them in our pockets and messenger bags, and placing them on our desk -- we might come to appreciate Google’s approach to automation and personalization more than we ever thought we could.
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), an independent authority within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that's responsible for deploying the nation’s first unified communications network for first responders, took three steps forward on Sept. 17.
The FirstNet board released a public notice, a request for information (RFI), and a budget for fiscal 2015. The released public notice and RFI are both intended to enrich the development of the nationwide network and ensure FirstNet’s objectives are in line with the legal requirements and technical capabilities of the telecommunications industry. The 15-page RFP seeks answers from industry on FirstNet’s intended processes. One question in the document asks, “Should FirstNet seek proposals for a comprehensive, nationwide solution, [or] act as integrator and seek proposals for equipment and services to custom assemble a nationwide network, or something there-between?” The document sheds light on FirstNet’s stance as the organization prepares to release a draft RFP by March 2015.
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