[opendtv] Re: Does Netflix/Comcast Deal Remove Obstacle To TWC Merger? - Forbes
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2014 08:08:51 -0500
On Feb 27, 2014, at 7:15 PM, "Manfredi, Albert E"
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Yes agreed so far. But this goes to the crux of our disagreements.
>
> 1. The ISPs are typically local monopolies, although hopefully 4G cellular
> could change that.
Cellular is also an oligopoly, and damn expensive at that.
> So, as long as ISPs remain **strictly** standards-based and **strictly**
> content-neutral, I can live with that. Just as I do with my electric and
> water utilities. Same plumbing standards, same voltage and frequency
> standards, same Ethernet and IP standards, no matter which of these utilities
> you use. I don't have to go begging hat in hand to my power utility to buy a
> light bulb, Craig.
If you want those fancy new LED bulbs you can buy them Bert, they are just more
expensive than a tungsten filament bulb. If you want exclusive content via the
Internet you can buy it Bert, but you'll need to pay the going price of a MVPD
subscription.
> 2. The content owners compete over the neutral Internet medium and the
> neutral OTA medium.
And in stores like Target, Walmart, iTunes, Amazon Prime, and at the Redbox on
the corner. But some of their most exclusive stuff is only available via a MVPD
subscription. You can buy it from your local cable company, a DBS service, and
in a few markets via a telco or Google. They deliver some of this stuff -
HBOGo and Watch ESPN - over the neutral Internet too. But you cannot watch it
because it requires authentication.
> 3. But for those with MVPD subscriptions, the "video distribution" live
> streams aspect is in practice a local monopoly. That's the only
> non-standards-based monopoly in the bunch.
Comcast and Cox Cable offer all of these streams to subscribers over the
neutral Internet...
For a price.
>
> No, it's not. The IP distribution medium has miraculously remained neutral
> and standards-based, so that EVEN IF your ISP is an MVPD, the IP fraction of
> its bandwidth is still usable by any standards-based IP appliance. Incredible
> good fortune. Let's not pretend this is only a matter of semantics.
And if you want to watch their exclusive content via the standards based ISP
portion of their ISP networks you can...
But you still need a subscription. Technology IS NOT the issue Bert. The
business model is the issue.
>
>> content owners have maintained their oligopoly over multiple generations
>> of technology. It will be no more difficult to move these oligopolies to
>> the Internet, if all else stays the same.
>
> They are already on the Internet, Craig. You are ONLY talking about a matter
> of degree. And indications are, from articles posted even by you, that even
> hold-outs like ESPN are deliberating their future.
Finally!
Yes Bert, they are moving their oligopolies to your beloved Internet, where you
STILL will need to pay for a MVPD subscription to watch on your beloved PC.
Regards
Craig
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