Comcast-NBC Universal Pitch Deal To FCC
With a lengthy pitch on the public interest value of creating a new content-focused joint venture that will boost quantity, quality, diversi… Read more »
FCC Formalizes ETF Inquiry By Sending Letters To Google, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile And Verizon
photo: Tricia Duryee
After weighing in on how to handle early-termination fees for about a year, the FCC has finally formalized its inquiries by sending letters… Read more »
Broadband Content Bits: Virgin Media, Liberty, Scottish Online Newspaper, GamesIndustry.biz
– Virgin Media: Regulators at the European Commission say they will “closely monitor” Virgin Media’s plans to monitor traffic on its networ… Read more »
Disney Picks Bates To Follow Padden As Head U.S. Lobbyist
photo: AP Images
Veteran Disney (NYSE: DIS) lobbyist Preston Padden isn’t retiring until 2011 but he’s already handing off to a new government relations chie… Read more »
U.S., Canadian Regulators Clear The Way For Live Nation, Ticketmaster Merger
It’s taken nearly a year, but the U.S. Department of Justice has given the merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation (NYSE: LYV). The new… Read more »
Motorola Asks ITC To Ban BlackBerry Imports
photo: Motorola
The International Trade Commission is a busy bunch these days. It’s not only hearing cases from both Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK… Read more »
BBC Promises TV DRM Will Be ‘Light-Touch’, Ofcom Undecided
What’s a little harmless DRM? The BBC claims that plans by Freeview broadcasters to apply digital rights management to high-definition telev… Read more »
German Media Tag-Teaming Against Google ‘Monopoly’
Four of Germany’s largest media groups are set to form a shared web advertising network, after winning clearance from the European Commissio… Read more »
Digital Economy Bill: Rightsholders Will Shoulder Most Three-Strikes Costs
Score one for the ISPs in the Digital Economy Bill debate. Stephen Timms, the minister for Digital Britain, yesterday said that copyright ho… Read more »
FCC Votes To Close Loophole That Kept Some Sports Nets Off Satellite; Appeal Expected
photo: Philadelphia Flyers
Sports fans with satellite subscriptions may finally get access to some regional sports networks that cable programmers — particularly thos… Read more »
Broadband Content Bits: Ofcom/BSkyB; SweTorrents; RuNet Rises; British Museum/BBC; Novello/Games
– Ofcom/BSkyB: Ofcom says a final decision on forcing Sky to cut wholesale channel prices will come in March. The board is due to meet this… Read more »
Microsoft’s Bing To Cut Time It Keeps User Search Data; Will Google Follow Suit?
photo: Corbis
Under pressure from European regulators, Microsoft’s Bing is finally cutting the amount of time it stores some user search data. The company… Read more »
Behavioral Ad Regulation Startup Better Advertising Buys Tracking Tool Ghostery
Online behavioral advertising regulatory platform startup Better Advertising (BA), co-founded by former About.com CEO Scott Meyer, has acqui… Read more »
China To Google: Follow The Law
Not a big surprise, but the Chinese government has not been won over by Google’s manifesto. The government made its first official statement… Read more »
Online Music Price Fixing Lawsuit Back; Court Rules Against Labels
photo: Flickr/The Library of Congress
Major labels must once again face charges related to online price-fixing, according to an Appeals Court order issued Wednesday. In November… Read more »
France Will Send Its First Three-Strikes Warnings Starting April
France isn’t letting a delay to its approval by a privacy agency stop it from pressing ahead with creating its new Hadopi anti-piracy body.… Read more »
‘TV Everywhere
TV Everywhere, the cable industry Read more »
Broadband Content Bits: Spanish Piracy Law; Omnifone/Gracenote; TalkTalk/Tiscali
–Spain’s three strikes: The Cabinet has approved an anti-piracy law that offers a graduated response to sites that engage in illegal file s… Read more »
Updated: @ CES: FCC’s Genachowski Not Ready To Say Broadcast-Only Viewers Are Irrelevant
photo: Tricia Duryee
Julius Genachowski lives in the now and looks to the if/when. During a pointed Q&A with CEA head Gary Shapiro at CES, the still-new chairman… Read more »
Gadget Makers Want Changes To Europe’s Media Copying Levy
More tussling over Europe’s taxes on big digital businesses: Consumer electronics firms like Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Resear… Read more »
Sacre Bleu! France Mulls Tax On Web Ads To Bail Out Old Media
photo: Wikipedia
Could operators like Google (NSDQ: GOOG) be taxed every time a Frenchman clicks a web ad? A report presented to the French government sugges… Read more »
Google: Apple’s Quattro Buy Is Proof Of A ‘Competitive’ Mobile Ad Market
If *Google* has its way, Highland Capital Partners and Globespan Capital Partners won’t be the only ones that benefit from Apple’s acquisiti… Read more »
Nokia Asks ITC To Ban Apple Imports, Including iPhone
photo: Flickr
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) said when it comes to smartphones, it will be on par with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) by 2011, but hopefully i… Read more »
As In UK, French Three Strikes May Be Delayed To After Elections
Looks like another stay of execution for illegal file sharers in France. The “three-strikes” anti-piracy law approved by the French senate l… Read more »
Two Consumer Groups Try To Block Google’s Acquisition Of AdMob
Stating concerns about Google’s dominance in the mobile advertising market and lack of competition, two consumer groups have asked the Feder… Read more »
Digital Economy Bill: The Half-Billion Pound Price Tag
One item definitely not in this year’s post-Christmas sales: ISPs estimate that the proposed Digital Economy Bill, the government’s newest e… Read more »
FCC’s Levin: Broadband Plans Don’t Threaten Future Of Broadcasting
FCC broadband advisor Blair Levin tells B&C that he does not think any of the commission’s plans for spectrum reclamation “threatens the fut… Read more »
China Mobile’s Vice Chairman Investigated For ‘Breach Of Conduct’
photo: China Mobile
China Mobile’s Vice Chairman Zhang Chunjiang is being investigated by officials for alleged breach of conduct related to personal reasons, w… Read more »
SEC Watch: Disney’s Iger Cash Take Cut By 28 Percent (But Still Plenty)
photo: AP Images
Compensating execs gets a little tougher when all the main measures for a fiscal year are all down: revenue, 4 percent; earnings per share,… Read more »
SEC Watch: Liberty Extends Maffei’s Term as President, CEO For Five Years
photo: AP Images
The year-end exec lockdown continues, Yesterday, Steve Burke and other top Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) execs got extensions to keep them on board… Read more »
Apple TV Talk, Talk, Talk, Talk
Once again, talking about Apple’s future as a multichannel video distributor is all the rage. But people familiar with the discussions betwe… Read more »
IFNCs: A Grand Coalition Bid For Wales, UTV For North-East
The independently-funded news consortium (IFNC) pilot in Wales has attracted a bid from a remarkably broad alliance comprising…
ITV (LSE:… Read more »
Verizon Responds To FCC About The Fee It Charges For Contract-Breakers
Verizon Wireless explained to the FCC today why it doubled the fee it charges to consumers when they leave their contracts early.
The answ… Read more »
UK VOD Gets Vague New Rules From Ofcom, ATVOD
photo: programwitch
“TV-like” video-on-demand services get regulated by Ofcom and the self-regulatory Association for Television On-Demand (ATVOD) starting Satu… Read more »
Groups File Complaint With FTC Over Facebook’s New Privacy Settings
photo: Flickr
Several top privacy groups have filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over Facebook’s recent changes to its privacy set… Read more »
Microsoft Avoids Another EC Fine By Pledging Browser Choice
The battle of the browser is over, at least for a while… The European Commission’s anti-trust department said on Wednesday that it has acc… Read more »
Feds Partner With Wireless Carriers To Create Emergency Alert System
President Obama sent text messages to his supporters during the election, and now he’s preparing to send messages to all citizens regarding… Read more »
IFNCs: Will Incumbents Win Out, Or Is There A Place For Startups?
The Lord Carter/Ofcom proposals for independently-funded news consortia (IFNC) opened the door to exciting potential multimedia JVs and a wa… Read more »
IFNCs: Consortia May Have To Give Away Content For Free
Winners of public money that will support independently-funded news consortia (IFNCs) could be forced to make their content available for fr… Read more »
IFNCs: Trinity Mirror Amongst Five Expected Wales Bidders
Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) has declared its intention to bid for public money that will support an independently-funded news consortium (IFNC… Read more »
