The International Trade Commission voted to begin a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into alleged patent infringement by DVRs and set-top boxes with interactive program guides and video recording technology for use with Comcast cable systems, the ITC said in a Monday news release. Rovi requested the investigation in a complaint filed April 6, saying Comcast “built its interactive cable business on the back of Rovi’s technology” as a licensee, “refuses to renew [Rovi's] license on acceptable terms” and continues to sell and lease products that copy Rovi’s technology and compete with Rovi products. The ITC will consider whether to issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders banning import and sale of infringing set-tops by Arris, Comcast and Technicolor, the agency said. Arris declined to comment Tuesday, and a Technicolor spokesman had no immediate comment. Comcast disagrees "with Rovi’s accusations and intend[s] to defend the cases vigorously," said a spokeswoman for the cable company.
France Télévisions is partnering with the French Tennis Federation to offer 360-degree live broadcasts in 4K and virtual reality of all French Open matches played on the tournament’s three main courts, the broadcaster said in a Monday announcement. An RG360 virtual reality app, created by French startup FireKast and available for free on iOS, Android and Samsung Gear VR, will let fans view live or replayed matches in “full immersion” 360-degree 4K, it said. To make the content available to everyone, France Télévisions will also be trying out new functions on the YouTube Live 360 player on the French channel francetvsport, it said. And 360-degree replays will be available through francetvsport’s YouTube and Facebook platforms, it said. For the fourth straight year, the French Tennis Federation and France Télévisions also will offer a special event channel for the men’s and women’s singles semifinals and finals matches, it said. A French telco will broadcast these matches in Ultra HD on digital terrestrial TV in the Paris area and by satellite for the rest of France, it said.
Protesting the length and complexity of mobile app terms and conditions, Norway's consumer protection agency will have politicians, data protection officials, international students and others reading aloud policies of Angry Birds, Facebook, Netflix, Skype, Snapchat, Tinder, Twitter and two dozen more companies -- all told 250,000 words that will take 24 hours to utter during a live stream Friday. "The current state of terms and conditions for digital services is bordering on the absurd," said Digital Policy Director Finn Myrstad at the Norwegian Consumer Council, or Forbrukerrådet. The agency said the collective length of app terms and conditions found on an "average" mobile phone is longer than the New Testament. "Their scope, length and complexity mean it is virtually impossible to make good and informed decisions." He said consumers are at a disadvantage since companies can "unilaterally" amend policies to track, store and sell user content. Advocates want standards for how terms, conditions and privacy statements are written and presented, he said. Haida Tajik, chair of the Norwegian Parliament's justice committee, and Norwegian Data Protection Commissioner Bjørn Erik Thon will be among the numerous speakers during the Web stream.
AT&T is well positioned on connected cars and spectrum, an executive told investors Monday. Vice Chairman Ralph de la Vega said automakers sell many cars into Mexico and Canada. With the carrier's roaming agreements in Canada and its growing network in Mexico, customers in both nations who buy AT&T-connected vehicles can get service comparable to what they would get in the U.S., he said. AT&T is in its best spectrum position ever, with 40 MHz of fallow spectrum to build on, said de la Vega at a J.P. Morgan conference. He said AT&T sees itself in a strong position going into the FCC incentive auction.
The FTC OK’d Mitel’s $1.96 billion buy of Polycom, Mitel said in a news release Thursday. The Canadian telco announced the deal last month (see 1604150056). It's expected to close in Q3, subject to shareholder approval and regulatory OKs from Russia and Germany.
Industry applauded an International Trade Commission report on the projected impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Wednesday's ITC report said the TPP would decrease the costs of moving goods within the agreement’s covered region, and bring modest gains to the U.S. economy over its first 15 years, but the deal also would exacerbate the U.S. trade deficit. Assuming TPP takes effect by the end of 2017, the report predicted real U.S. gross domestic product would rise by $42.7 billion (0.15 percent) over baseline projections, while overall exports would increase by $27.2 billion (1 percent) and $48.9 billion (1.1 percent), respectively, by 2032, according to a summary. "The ITC report is an important step forward in assessing the benefits of the TPP,” said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro. “In our increasingly connected world, international trade will become ever more important to the prosperity and success of American workers and businesses.” While CTA still wants to review the full ITC report, “it is already our assessment that the Administration should move the TPP forward and Congress should approve it this year,” he said. Telecommunications Industry Association CEO Scott Belcher said the report “underscores the importance of the trade agreement for strengthening the U.S. technology industry’s ability to generate high-paying jobs and for promoting borderless digital trade opportunities.” MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd said the report "reaffirms that the TPP will grow the workforce and economic activity of America’s creative sectors, and benefit the U.S. economy as a whole.” But trade unions and several Democrats in Congress said the TPP could kill jobs in several industries.
Liberty Global closed its acquisition of Cable & Wireless Communications, a deal Liberty said was valued at about $7.4 billion on an enterprise value basis. CWC's business will be attributed to Liberty's Latin American and Caribbean (LiLAC) Group, creating "the leading consumer and business-to-business communications provider in the region," said a Liberty Global news release Monday. The combination serves 20 million video, voice, broadband and mobile subscribers, and is expected to generate more than $3.5 billion in annual revenue, it said. Almost all the countries with CWC-LiLAC Group operations are in the Caribbean basin, except Chile, it said. Mike Fries, Liberty Global CEO, said: "We are joining two high-growth businesses in a region that is both underpenetrated and underserved in broadband, mobile data and pay TV services."
ViaSat will use capacity on SES-5 at 5 degrees east to broadcast its first Ultra HD channel in four Nordic markets, SES said in a Friday announcement. The channel, to be called ViaSat Ultra HD, will be launched after the summer in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, SES said. ViaSat customers with Ultra HD TVs and with ViaSat’s new Ultra HD set-tops to debut this summer will able to receive live Champions League soccer matches and other content, it said. The addition of ViaSat Ultra HD will bring to 24 the global number of SES-backed Ultra HD channels, or 46 percent of all channels broadcast in Ultra HD via satellite worldwide, SES said. “With more and more Ultra HD channels expected in the future, satellite will remain the optimal infrastructure to deliver this new and substantially improved viewing experience.”
Companies increasingly will limit supply chain relationships to suppliers that participate in authorized economic operator supply chain security programs, said industry members in Cancun at a World Customs Organization conference. James Lockett, Huawei head-trade facilitation, said Tuesday he expects AEO status to someday be a prerequisite for all the company's suppliers. While it's still too early to make that requirement, it seems to be where the company is headed, he said. AEO programs are voluntary supply chain security programs administered by customs regimes which can help speed up customs processing, and such arrangements are sometimes recognized by national governments.
British consumers are on pace this year for the first time to spend more on video streaming subscriptions and downloads than on buying and renting physical DVDs and Blu-rays, Strategy Analytics said in a Friday report. The research firm sees Britons spending 1.3 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) on streaming and downloading in 2016 (a 23.7 percent increase from 2015), compared with 956 million pounds ($1.4 billion) on DVDs and Blu-rays (down 16.3 percent from 2015), it said. Five years ago, physical media accounted for 86 percent of consumer spending on home video, but in five years it will be less than 14 percent, “with DVD/Blu-ray rental virtually extinct,” the company said. “As online provides increasing ways to access films and box-sets, physical simply can’t compete. Although many people will always prefer a physical disc, retailers will have to decide whether it’s even viable to offer that format in five years’ time.”