[opendtv] Re: Commissioner Copps on the Fox vs Cablevision dispute

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:52:22 -0400

At 3:48 PM -0500 10/20/10, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
One thing I can easily agree with Commissioner Copps on: there are no "good guys" in these squabbles.

On the other hand, if it's House, Lie To Me, or Fringe that viewers are missing, by all means do take it upon yourselves to bypass the addictive umbillical.

Bert.

"We must also understand that these seemingly 'old media' debates can be used against the new media of the digital age, too. For a broadcaster to pull programming from the Internet for a cable company's subscribers, as apparently happened here, directly threatens the open Internet. This was yet another instance revealing how vulnerable the Internet is to discrimination and gate-keeper control absent clear rules of the road."

- FCC -

So here is a perfect example of how the content oligopoly is misusing the Internet Bert. Just pull high value content from the Internet when you are trying to squeeze the MVPDs for another nickle.

Now let's consider an alternative. Let's assume that Fox gets a buck from Cablevision for their broadcast network. Seems to me that it should be possible to pay Fox a buck to stream the same content from their website.

But that ain't gonna happen because the ability to obtain just the channels you watch (want) would kill the MVPD bundling model that forces subscribers to pay for stuff they don't want.

Keep in mind that all of this is propped up by the politicians, who gave broadcasters retransmission consent as part of the effort to control the spiraling cost of cable in 1992.

Talk about unintended consequences.

In reality, Congress never intended to help the consumer in 1992. The Cable Act was just another way to reward the special interests, under the guise of protecting consumers...

Regards
Craig


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