Blog

2014 July

Jul 31
0

Time Warner Cable Doesn’t Deserve the FCC’s Help

Posted by | Video | No Comments

From the moment the deal was announced, many questioned the unprecedented price Time Warner Cable (TWC) agreed to pay for the exclusive right to distribute Los Angeles Dodgers games through its SportsNet LA channel. Though the deal was deemed a coup for the team’s new owners, TWC acknowledged the risk that it could lose money on the Dodgers. Would this be the deal “where the big TV money in baseball bubble pops”?

The free market answer is, “Yes”. When TWC demanded that SportsNet LA be carried on the basic service tier at rates of $4-$5 per subscriber, DirecTV balked. The satellite operator was willing to place a bet in the marketplace that its subscribers would rather skip the Dodgers than be forced to bail TWC out of its bad deal, and so far, its bet has paid off. Fans feel like its the Dodgers who let them down. Read More

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Jul 30
0

Video: Title II Telecom Forum With FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai

Posted by | Broadband Internet, Regulatory State | No Comments

Yesterday the Internet Innovation Alliance posted the video stream from its event entitled, “Title II Regulation and its Potential Impact on Deployment of 21st Century Broadband Networks and Services,” featuring FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. The video is available HERE.

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Jul 22
0

Campbell Speaking at Internet Innovation Alliance Telecommunications Forum

Posted by | Broadband Internet | No Comments

It’s going to be a busy week: In addition to the Wednesday webinar, I’ll be speaking this Thursday, July 24 from 10 to 11:30 pm ET at an Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) Telecommunications Forum entitled, “Title II Regulation and its Potential Impact on Deployment of 21st Century Broadband Networks and Services.” The event features FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who will be delivering a keynote presentation, and will be held in Washington, DC at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Registration is available HERE.

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Jul 21
0

CBIT Submits Comments in FCC Net Neutrality Proceeding

Posted by | Broadband Internet | No Comments

The Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology (CBIT) submitted initial comments in the FCC’s net neutrality proceeding on Friday. CBIT’s comments addressed two issues: (1) the FCC lacks legal authority to reclassify broadband services, and, (2) if the FCC did reclassify, forbearance from tariffing broadband Internet access services would be difficult for the agency to justify based on its current precedent.

The executive summary of the comments is posted below, and the entire comments can be downloaded HERE. Read More

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Jul 16
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Congress Doesn’t Need to Intervene in Retransmission Consent Negotiations

Posted by | Video | 2 Comments

In his written testimony for today’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the video marketplace, Comcast executive vice president David Cohen says the company does not support addressing retransmission consent issues through the STELA process or other legislative action. He notes that broadcasters and pay-TV providers have, “in the vast majority of cases, succeeded in negotiating retransmission consent agreements,” and that “most parties involved in such negotiations will continue to act responsibly and bargain in good faith and in a manner that reflects consumers’ best interests.”

Comcast’s vote of confidence for market negotiations is consonant with the views of free market groups that have weighed in during the STELA reauthorization process, including Americans for Limited Government, Frontiers of Freedom, the American Consumers Institute, and the Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology (CBIT). These free market advocates recognize that piecemeal changes often result in more market distortions and obstruct efforts for more comprehensive reform. Read More

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Jul 10
0

Conservatives Want to Let STELA Expire or Keep It Clean

Posted by | Video | One Comment

The House Judiciary Committee passed a clean STELA bill this morning (H.R. 5036), which joins the clean bill passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. In the meantime, conservatives have started taking an interest in STELA. They rightly recognize that the truncated STELA reauthorization process “is rife with opportunities for various special interests to try to put the government’s thumb on the scale.”

In a letter to sent to Senator Thune on Monday, Americans for Limited Government (ALG) wrote that a “true first step to deregulate the marketplace would be to simply allow STELA to expire,” not “cherry-pick deregulating the retransmission consent process.”

Yesterday Frontiers of Freedom urged Senators Thune and Wicker “to reject the inclusion of ancillary provisions which will create a decidedly anti-free market framework designed to pick winners and losers in the video marketplace.”

The American Consumer Institute (ACI) also favors a clean STELA reauthorization until a “genuine effort to deregulate the video marketplace can be undertaken.” It notes that “any anemic attempts at deregulation that apply to only one of the many players in the dynamically competitive marketplace could inadvertently jeopardize much needed comprehensive reforms.” Read More

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