On Jun 14, 2015, at 8:23 PM, Manfredi, Albert E <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
So there you have it, Craig. The FCC may want to redefine MVPD as any
technology-neutral OTT site that offers linear streams, but the NCTA insists
an MVPD has to own its own infrastructure.
So, go with the FCC-proposed re-definition, and CBS All Access, wwitv.com,
http://livetv.sx/en/, http://original.livestream.com/guide/livetv,
http://nba-stream.com/, http://www.wiziwig.tv/offline.html, some or most of
the sites run by local broadcasters, such as this:
http://www.wjla.com/news/newschannel-8/, and countless others, would all
qualify as "virtual MVPDs." And yes, including Sling TV.
But wait. Using this FCC-suggested redefinition, you DO NOT need to pay for
virtual MVPD service, as Craig insists. There are plenty of free,
ad-supported "virtual MVPDs" out there, and the whole argument becomes moot.
On the other hand, as the NCTA defines the term, any service like Sling TV
would not qualify as virtual MVPD. It is not a walled garden. It is available
to anyone over the neutral Internet, and is also "technology-neutral."
Therefore, according to the NCTA, ESPN is now available on an OTT site, and
soon to be available over others as well.
(Obviously, the NCTA opposes such a redefinition, because that would force
content owners to give free and equitable terms for their content to a
potentially enormous number of sites. But you can't have it both ways. If
ESPN is only available with MVPD subscription, all you're really saying is
"with subscription." The "MVPD" term is so diluted as to mean virtually
nothing. And the NCTA claims, in effect, that ESPN is now available over an
OTT site, and more to follow.)
Bert
---------------------------------------------
http://www.multichannel.com/news/next-tv/intx-2015-wheeler-favors-tech-neutral-mvpd-definition/390445
Tech Neutral MVPD Definition
Tells Crowd Some Net OTTs Fit Bill
5/06/2015 2:15 PM Eastern
By: John Eggerton
FCC chairman Tom Wheeler says he favors a technology-neutral definition of
MVPD.
That came in a speech to the National Cable & Telecommunications
Association's INTX 2015 convention in Chicago Wednesday (May 6). NCTA has
said it doesn't think the FCC should, or can, take that tech-neutral approach.
The FCC is currently vetting comments on its proposal to define linear
over-the-top providers as MVPDs, at least for the purposes of getting access
to vertically integrated programming.
The chairman made the point to his INTX audience as part of a larger message
that cable operators should not yield to "the temptation to use your
predominant position in broadband to protect your traditional cable business"
from over-the-top video disruptors.
"We will proceed to consider whether to adopt a technologically-neutral
definition of a multichannel video program distributor and, to be candid, I
favor a technology-neutral definition that includes Internet-based companies
that choose business models that fit this status," he said.
Last December, the FCC voted unanimously (though Republicans only concurred)
to tentatively conclude that it would define an OTT service that delivers a
linear stream of programming as an MVPD. That means those services, which
mimic cable services, would have access to content through the FCC's program
access rules, but also have to negotiate retransmission consent with
broadcasters. It would not apply to TV Everywhere, which is in essence an
authentication regime for an online mirror of traditional service, in which
access rules already appear. But it does ask questions about how it should
treat TV Everywhere.
NCTA has argued that a transmission path is necessary to be an MVPD. It told
the FCC in comments on Sky Angel that the 1992 Cable Act was clearly intended
to promote "facilities-based MVPD competitors," which would require
facilities.
To define it otherwise, they say, would result in "expansive regulation of
the Internet" and conferring rights and obligations on online entities the
FCC does not track or license, may not have physical facilities in the U.S.
and which "were never intended to be the subjects of such regulations."
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