HBO Now is available to Apple and Optimum Online subscribers, giving audiences instant access to HBO’s programming, Time Warner Inc. said in a Tuesday news release. HBO Now is available directly through Apple or Cablevision's Optimum Online broadband service for a monthly subscription of $14.99. Customers who sign up this month for HBO Now will get a 30-day introductory free trial period. Similar to HBO Go, HBO Now will offer more than 2,000 titles online, including current series such as Game of Thrones, True Detective, Silicon Valley, Girls, The Wire and Deadwood. HBO Now subscribers will also have access to Hollywood movies such as Divergent, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Neighbors and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Netflix said TVs from three manufacturers will wear the Netflix Recommended TV logo at retail, certifying that the TVs offer “easy access to Internet TV services, faster performance, and new features that enable a next-generation smart TV experience.” TVs include LG 4K UHD TVs with webOS 2.0, Sony Android Full HDTVs and Roku TVs from Hisense, Insignia and TCL. In a Tuesday blog post, Netflix said it’s “particularly excited” about instant on functionality supported by the Roku-powered and Sony Android HDTVs. “These TVs wake up quickly, remembering where you left off, similar to how smartphones and tablets behave today,” Netflix said. The Sony and Roku models are also capable of turning on and launching Netflix with one button press, it said. The LG 4K UHD TVs with webOS 2.0 have made “special optimizations to make streaming services like Netflix launch much faster,” it said. All the TVs offer “improved user interfaces, allowing you to move seamlessly between live TV and Internet TV services,” Netflix said.
ICANN should “change its corporate structure to include a membership that will hold its leadership accountable,” the Global Commission on Internet Governance said in a news release Thursday. GCIG released a report making several recommendations for the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition. “Any solution for IANA oversight should apply to all current IANA functions to avoid risk of fragmentation,” the release said. “ICANN’s membership should have the power to recall individual directors and approve changes to bylaws; and the effectiveness of financial transparency and oversight should be strengthened,” it said. The report said the transition’s tentative Sept. 30 deadline isn’t likely to be met, a conclusion shared by many ICANN stakeholders (see 1501230063).
The Economic Innovation Group, a tech-oriented lobbying outfit, launched, the group said in a news release Tuesday. EIG was co-founded by Steve Glickman, a former economic adviser to the Obama administration, and John Lettieri, former vice president-government affairs at the Organization for International Investment. The group also has support from Sean Parker, Facebook’s founding president; Ted Ullyot, Facebook’s first general counsel; and SV Angel Founder Ron Conway. “It’s time for those of us in the tech community to look beyond the borders of Silicon Valley, and to think long term about solutions to broader national challenges,” said Park in the release. EIG plans a policy event in partnership with The Atlantic April 15.
ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade’s dismissive rhetoric about the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority cross-community working group (CWG) points to the need for strong oversight of the transition by Congress, said Daniel Castro, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation vice president, in an op-ed for The Hill Tuesday. "There is no one today in the CWG who even understands how the functions work," Chehade said last month at a Domain Name Association event. "I sent my CTO David Conrad to explain to [the CWG] how the system works,” and “no one there even knew that he was talking about." Castro called the comments “disappointing” and said they “show that unless the Internet community, including the U.S. government, demands strong accountability reforms, the ICANN CEO is likely to dismiss these efforts out of hand.” “The greatest concern is that a future CEO or board might take ICANN in an undesirable direction,” said Castro. “‘Trust me’ is not a model for good governance on the Internet or anywhere else.” The CWG met in Istanbul last week to discuss its delayed names proposal (see 1503300057 and 1503170058). The CWG scheduled a 30-day public comment period of its draft proposal, which was originally slated for early April, beginning April 20. ICANN didn’t comment.
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition cross-community working group (CWG) saw “significant progress” during its meeting last week in Istanbul, but the “work on the post-transition structural arrangements remains in a developmental stage and there are details to resolve,” an ICANN news release said Monday. “Moreover the proposed structure will need to be reviewed against the CWG-Stewardship principles, amongst other tests and considerations,” it said. ICANN stakeholders told us earlier this month that the Istanbul meeting would be key in determining the progress of the CWG (see 1503170058). The group has delayed its names proposal largely due to the debate over whether the day-to-day operations of the IANA functions should be governed by an internal or an external mechanism. The CWG scheduled a 30-day public comment period of its draft proposal, which was originally slated for early April, beginning April 20, the release said.
Microsoft had more than 31,000 law enforcement requests for more than 52,000 users between July and December 2014, said a company blog post Friday. Microsoft disclosed the “subscriber” or “transactional data” for more than 73 percent of those requests, it said. The U.S. generated more than 5,400 requests. Microsoft said it received between 19,000 and 19,999 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act orders for content that affected accounts between January and June 2014. The orders have a six-month reporting delay, it said. “While we saw little change from the proceeding period in the overall number of law enforcement and government requests for Microsoft customer data, the world around us continues to change,” it said. “In the 14 months since the government agreed to greater transparency for reporting national security orders, we’ve seen new threats emerge around the globe,” said Microsoft, which reaffirmed its support of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and USA Freedom Act (see 1409220038).
Uber released a new code of conduct that included the creation of a safety advisory board, a company blog post said Wednesday. Uber rides are “tracked by GPS,” which allows it to “provide law enforcement with very specific details about trip activity for their investigations,” it said. That partnership also extends to the tracking of contagious diseases like Ebola, it said. Uber is also rolling out an SOS button for international users to contact law enforcement, it said.
The FCC’s “erratic” recent history with broadband reporting could have consequences for the national broadband map, NCTA said in a blog post Wednesday. It pointed to the agency’s shift from defining broadband as 4/1 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps as evidence of the commission’s lack of consistency in broadband reporting. “Inconsistent and spotty reporting using an ever-shifting set of metrics is hardly conducive to sound analysis,” NCTA said. It challenged FCC credibility in broadband reporting. “Under Section 706, the FCC has an interest in highlighting problems rather than successes because the statute gives the FCC authority to take immediate action if it reaches a negative finding in its annual report,” NCTA said. The open Internet order and the new Broadband Opportunities Council “mark a new level of government involvement in the operation of the broadband marketplace,” NCTA said. The White House created the council to spur broadband investment and adoption, it said Monday (see 1503230064).“With increased government oversight and participation comes an increased responsibility for government to be a resource for factual and impartial data.”
Consumer confidence toward the overall economy and technology spending both fell in March, said CEA Tuesday. The CEA Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), which measures consumer expectations about the U.S. economy as a whole, slipped 2.8 points from February to 178.4, and the Index of Consumer Technology Expectations (ICTE) dropped 5.4 points, said CEA. “While consumer confidence is down slightly from last month, U.S. economic growth continues to sustain above-trend growth,” said Shawn DuBravac, CEA chief economist. This month’s ICE remains higher year over year for the month of March since the CEA Index began tracking in 2007, said the association in a news release.