October 2014

The Internet Association warns court about ‘widespread disruption’ online

Major Internet companies are warning a federal court that the outcome of a landmark trade case could put the future of the Internet at risk. The Internet Association -- which includes Google, Facebook and other industry giants -- filed an amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief. The case involves the authority of the International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent agency that gives advice on trade policy. The group warned that the trade commission’s claim to have jurisdiction over electronic data sent into the US could “risk widespread disruption of the global Internet and to essential American economic interests.”

CBS All Access a Smart Move for Net, Affiliates

[Commentary] While all the broadcast networks are working on some form of streaming service, CBS’s version is different. It combines its on-demand offerings and station streaming into one service marketed directly to consumers. CBS is creating a whole new revenue stream for itself as well as its affiliates who choose to stream their signals locally on the platform. And here's a bonus for CBS broadcasters on the All Access platform. If retransmission negotiations break down and they have no choice but to yank their signals off of cable systems, they can point affected viewers to All Access and tell them to sign on so they don't miss their favorite shows. They might even offer the service for free for the duration of the blackout.

CBS's Streaming Service Not Likely to Equal ‘Real Business,’ Expert Says

CBS's new digital subscription video-on-demand service CBS All Access isn't likely to generate a financial windfall for CBS -- but it could still prove valuable for the network and consumers. At least, that's the view of streaming and online video expert Dan Rayburn, executive vice president of StreamingMedia.com. “Are they going to get millions of people signing up for this? No, definitely not,” said Rayburn. Rather than a money generator or an immediate game changer, Rayburn suggested that the new CBS service, and services from other networks, should they follow the same path, will be more a tool for testing the waters.

The Other Reason the TV Guys Are Moving to the Web

[Commentary] One by one, big networks are stepping out of the cable bundle and giving viewers a chance to watch their stuff on the Web. But those networks also assume they’re going to make most of their money from the cable bundle for many years to come. Which, it turns out, is one of the reasons they’re going to the Web. Sounds confusing, but it’s pretty straightforward: Adding an “over the top” service -- one that uses a Web connection instead of a cable box -- gives TV networks more buyers, which gives them more leverage. And they’ll try to use that leverage to get concessions from pay TV distributors, so the networks can improve their existing businesses, even as they build out new ones.

Sorting Out TV’s New Metrics

What’s the biggest hit of the new television season? That simple question has remained the same each fall for six decades, but the answer has gotten wildly more complicated.

These days it depends on whom you ask, when and how they watch TV and increasingly, where they hang out online. While technologies for how to watch TV (and express your love for your favorite shows) are proliferating and changing rapidly, the technologies for answering the most basic question in the business -- what people are actually watching -- are full of gaps. Tracking DVR viewing is slow, and advertisers don’t want to count viewers who are fast-forwarding through commercials. Tracking social-media buzz leaves out the many millions of nonchattering viewers. As audiences have fragmented, broadcasters are monitoring them in many ways, yet their core business—selling airtime to advertisers—is still tied to traditional ratings. The network or service that can unite all these pieces for a complete view of what everyone’s watching will hold the keys to the kingdom, because the answer determines where the money goes.

Should Cable Nets Stick With What They Know?

Cable networks that established themselves with niche programming aimed at very specific audiences have been branching out in recent years to chase broader audiences and advertiser pools. But at least some are finding it might have been better to stick with the genre they came in with, lest they dilute their brands and lose focus on the programming they do best. As content moves across platforms and services, there's an even stronger need for brands to mean something, said Brent Poer, president at Starcom MediaVest Group's LiquidThread North America. Networks need to make sure their content is recognizably their own even when it appears on services like Netflix instead of the regular TV channel.

Phone calls are about to get the HD treatment

Take a phone call today, and the quality of the sound will be the same as it was a few decades ago: sometimes fuzzy, sometimes muffled, with a tinny, robotic characteristic to it. But a few short years from now, you're going to notice a big difference in the quality of your calls.

That's because engineers are working on shifting the country's telephone infrastructure from copper wiring -- the old technology that dates back to the days of Alexander Graham Bell -- to fiber optic cables that can support a lot more traffic. "More traffic" doesn't just mean more calls. It means those calls can be packed with more data, allowing for richer sounds. The traditional phone call uses audio frequencies ranging from 300 Hertz to 3.4 kiloHertz. The HD voice network, or HDN, is expected to allow audio frequencies as high as 7 kHz or more. For the end user, the experience will be akin to upgrading from ordinary TV to HDTV.

Stop worrying about mastermind hackers. Start worrying about the IT guy.

Mistakes in setting up popular office software have sent information about millions of Americans spilling onto the Internet. The security problem, researchers say, has affected many hundreds of servers running popular Oracle software, exposing a peculiar melange of data to possible collection by hackers. Most of the institutions affected have been universities or government agencies, though they hold a wide range of information on individuals and private companies. Researchers are pointing to humble system administrators for making routine errors that left the data unsecured.

9/11 Commission warns: ‘Pattern seems to be repeating itself’

Members of the 9/11 Commission demanded that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) work to pass a cybersecurity bill before the end of the year. Citing major hacks against Target and Home Depot as well as newly discovered vulnerabilities in common security tools, members of the former government commission warned that the country could be hit with a major cyberattack if Congress does not act. “The al Qaeda threat did not manifest itself without warning on September 11, 2001,” Commission Chairman Thomas Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton wrote in a letter. “But we did not heed these warnings until it was too late. Unfortunately, that pattern seems to be repeating itself in the cyber realm,” they added.

The FBI Wants Internet Wiretapping Powers

The FBI is asking Congress to give it new powers to force technology companies to turn over private information on their customers. FBI Director James Comey warned that new technologies are making it easy for criminals to hide incriminating information from police. "The FBI has a sworn duty to keep every American safe from crime and terrorism, and technology has become the tool of choice for some very dangerous people," Director Comey said. "Unfortunately, the law hasn't kept pace with technology, and this disconnect has created a significant public-safety problem." A 1994 law, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, forces telephone companies to build surveillance technologies into their networks to allow law enforcement to install wiretaps. But the law hasn't been updated and doesn't cover new online forms of communication.

Benton

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