May 11, 2007
Reax To Cuban's Net Neutrality Remarks
Randolph May of the Free State Foundation has some interesting thoughts on dot-com billionaire Mark Cuban's testimony at a Thursday hearing of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet -- particularly on the HDNet chairman's network neutrality comments.
In a Friday blog post, May asks: "If net neutrality mandates were adopted, would they be more or less likely to cause bandwidth constraints to 'go away?'" He believes Cuban understands that such a law, if adopted, "would constrain the development of consumer-friendly business models as the Internet continues to evolve, thereby dampening investment and innovation incentives--and thereby killing the chicken that is laying the golden egg."
Posted by Andrew at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
TiVo Chief Touts Consumer Choice
In his testimony before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on Thursday, TiVo CEO Thomas Rogers said the panel was "uniquely positioned to shape the future of television." In this new consumer-controlled era, he said, it is crucial that lawmakers ensure choice among video providers and not get "derailed by incumbent interests that are threatened by innovation and competition."
In his written testimony, he said one of the biggest potential threats to his firm is the prospect of CableCARDs (which are used to view and record digital television) being "rendered useless" by video distributors' technologies that could limit the number of channels received by consumers who have the devices.
"Retail CableCARD devices must not be placed at a competitive disadvantage versus cable supplied set-top boxes," Rogers said. "The subcommittee must ensure that competitive retail set-top boxes have access to all of the television programming that consumers would expect to get from a cable set-top box," he said.
Interestingly, Rogers served as chief counsel to the subcommittee in the 1980s. He told Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass., that he was "exceedingly uncomfortable" testifying before his alma mater. "I'm not sure if it's like being a cheering alum returning to a football game or a former student returning for disciplinary action," he said.
Posted by Andrew at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
YouTube PR Machine: Ed Markey
It seems that Rep. Edward Markey, chairman of the House Subcommittee Telecommunication and the Internet, cannot get enough of YouTube. In an interview posted on the video-sharing site, the Massachusetts Democrat heaps praise upon "historic figure" YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley and asks him questions about his site's impact on the Internet and politics.
The video was shot on Thursday after Markey's panel heard about the future of video from Hurley as well as CEOs from Sling Media and TiVo. At the hearing, Markey made congressional history by filming a brief video from his chairman's seat and posting on YouTube as well. Chad, you cannot buy better publicity inside the Beltway.
Posted by Andrew at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
May 10, 2007
Stupak On YouTube's 'Community Guidelines'
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., a prominent child safety crusader on Capitol Hill, on Thursday questioned YouTube CEO Chad Hurley about his video-sharing site's so-called "community guidelines," which are intended to keep child pornography and other illicit clips offline. Stupak said sexual predators and pedophiles can trade illegal images and videos "just like baseball cards" and he wanted to make sure that is not happening on YouTube.
"We make it clear that we don’t tolerate that in our system," Hurley responded at the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet hearing. YouTube staffers monitor activity across the site and they also receive tips from members when they spot inappropriate content. "Our users have done a good job of letting us know what doesn’t belong," he said. Those who violate YouTube's terms of use are promptly kicked off and their videos are taken down, Hurley added.
Posted by Andrew at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Markey's YouTube Video
Well, that was fast. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., made good on his promise to post a video from the chairman's seat of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on YouTube. If you pause the video and squint, you can see all of us scribes, hard at work.
Posted by Andrew at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Product Placement 2.0
Phil Rosenthal, the creator of CBS sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," delivered some alarming statistics about advertisers' impact on television at a House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet hearing on Thursday. The old days of product placement are long gone, he said.
Product integration -- not only incorporating products into a scene, but making them part of the story line -- is the new strategy, Rosenthal said on behalf of the Writers Guild of America West and the Screen Actors Guild. In fact, product integration occurred more than 4,000 times on network primetime television in 2006, he said.
On NBC's "The Office," a character spent an episode working at a Staples office supply store. On ABC's "Desperate Housewives," characters discussed the "cool" features of a Nissan Xterra. "American Idol" contestants star in Ford ads every week, which are presented on the show and the judges "can't say anything about it because their mouths are full of Coca-Cola," he said.
"This is a level of corporate pressure that impinges on free expression over the airwaves," Rosenthal said. Writers' creative rights are impacted by this trend as are the actors, who are subjected to "forced endorsement," he added.
This blog post has been brought to you by Altoids "Curiously Strong" chewing gum and delicious Starbucks coffee… but that's only because the author has consumed both this morning.
Posted by Andrew at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
YouTube Exec Testifies, Shows Odd Video
Internet visionary Chad Hurley, who co-founded video-sharing site YouTube, seemed nervous as he testified before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on Thursday. "Hopefully I won't mess this up because if I do, it could end up on YouTube," he joked.
He began with a video he said Chairman Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., would enjoy -- a political attack ad by preschooler Jimmy Jones.
For a second, I thought he might show Sen. Ted Stevens' now-infamous "series of tubes" remark. Here's a techno remix of the Alaska Republican's statement made last year in the thick of the network neutrality debate.
Posted by Andrew at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
A Congressional First, Coming Soon To YouTube
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., made what he believed was congressional history on Thursday by shooting a brief video of a House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Internet hearing, which he planned to post on YouTube.
During his opening statement, Markey said the footage would be the first-ever YouTube clip of a hearing from the chairman's perspective. Then, Markey whipped out his video camera and asked the panel of witnesses to wave in his direction. He panned the room, soliciting waves from his colleagues, lobbyist-laden audience and press corps.
The hearing, which focused on the future of video, featured YouTube CEO Chad Hurley; Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian; MediaFLO President Gina Lombardi; Benjamin Pyne, president of affiliate sales and marketing for Disney and ESPN Networks; TiVo CEO Thomas Rogers; and "Everybody Loves Raymond" creator Phil Rosenthal.
Once Markey's clip is on YouTube, I'll be sure to post it on Tech Daily Dose. Stay tuned!
Posted by Andrew at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
