[opendtv] Re: News: Reps. Barton, Stearns Offer Alternative DTV Bill

  • From: Tom Barry <trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:58:08 -0500



Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> ...To this day, you cannot
> use the Internet to access the local content of a broadcasters if you
> are traveling in another market; to a limited extent you can now access
> network programming via portals such as Hulu, which in turn has really
> pissed off broadcasters.
Hulu is a joint venture between NBC and News Corp. Though kicking and screaming still come to mind. ;-) 

> So in closing, I think it fair to say that the media conglomerates AND
> broadcasters have helped to shape the Internet to their purposes. I thnk
> it s also fair to say that the Internet has done much to help shape the
> future for the media conglomerates, sans OTA broadcasters.

Agreed.  But I don't think ATSC has done much of that on either side.

- Tom




At 10:42 AM -0500 2/1/09, Tom Barry wrote:

Craig Birkmaier wrote:


 The "good" news is that none of this matters. Broadcasters managed to
 extend the life of NTSC by two decades, and claim a degree of political
 control over the REAL emerging digital infrastructure - the Internet.
How did this help broadcasters claim any political control over the Internet? To me it more seems they are the last ones to the table here, dragged kicking and screaming. 

Let me count the ways...

At the top of the list - The Digital Millenium Copyright Act
This act brought the U.S. into compliance with two 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties: the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. This agenda was pushed by the media conglomerates, predominantly those here in the U.S., but also by their smaller European counterparts in the music industry.
The Act makes it illegal to circumvent anti-piracy measures employed in all forms of digital media distribution. Broadcasters in the U.S. were strong proponents of the Act and pushed the FCC to implement the Broadcast Flag, which would have given the FCC the authority to mandate anti-piracy technology in almost every device that could touch the bits delivered by broadcasters. The regulations required that any device that might have access to bit streams that were marked as "protected," must include secure two-way paths that would identify a device as being capable of copying and protecting broadcast bits; these bits could only be played on authorized devices. The FCC DID implement the Broadcast Flag, but an appeals court overturned the regulations on the basis that the FCC does not have the authority to regulate downstream devices.
During the rapid growth of the Internet in the '90s broadcasters claimed that the Internet would kill their distribution model; i particular they were concerned about the ability of the Internet to get around the market-based distribution model of broadcasting. To this day, you cannot use the Internet to access the local content of a broadcasters if you are traveling in another market; to a limited extent you can now access network programming via portals such as Hulu, which in turn has really pissed off broadcasters.
While copy protection is finally disappearing from music, the media conglomerates have not budged on content protection for TV shows, Movies, and the distribution of the same via DVD and Blu-Ray. In fact, the content management protection schemes for Blu-Ray are so onerous that they are contributing to the lackluster level of adoption of this format, and have all but killed any interest in using Blu-Ray for applications other than the distribution of theatrical movies.
I would not say that broadcasters have been dragged kicking and screaming to the Internet, although this MIGHT be an accurate assessment for the music industry. As you say, most local broadcasters have been late to the Internet party - yet another reason that they will not survive, as viewers have already found alternative sources for the information they want on the Internet.
It is the producers of high value entertainment content that still keeps local broadcasters viable; they are the ones who are going to pull the plug on broadcasting, in order to try to pull in some of the revenues that are now going to local broadcasters. It remains to be seen if the conglomerates will be successful.
Add to this the generally high and mighty attitude of broadcasters, who believed (many still believe) that the Internet cannot replace them. You can see this in the market research for the M/H standard - that is in the belief that they can get people to pay for yet another subscription service for mobile devices and that they can stem the flight of viewers by making traditional content available to M/H devices...
John Willkie points out that there are MANY hooks in the M/H standard for Internet like services, yet I hear almost nothing about actual plans to deploy these services. Frankly I don;t think broadcasters know how...
There is a strong parallel here with the failure of data broadcasting using the baseline 8-VSB modulation standard. To be fair, the poor performance of early 8-VSB receivers played a roll in this failure, but the primary reason was the lack of support from broadcasters.
So in closing, I think it fair to say that the media conglomerates AND broadcasters have helped to shape the Internet to their purposes. I thnk it s also fair to say that the Internet has done much to help shape the future for the media conglomerates, sans OTA broadcasters. 

Regards
Craig


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