A service that lets users stream movies on demand, even when played one at a time from hundreds of Internet-connected DVD players in a remote physical location, must license those works from the movie studios, the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles ruled.
A service that lets users stream movies on demand, even when played one at a time from hundreds of Internet-connected DVD players in a remote physical location, must license those works from the movie studios, the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles ruled. Judge John Walter granted the studios’ motion for a preliminary injunction against Zediva (WID April 5 p10) which bills itself as a DVD rental service, and distinguished its business model from that of Cablevision, which won approval from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a remote DVR service. Cablevision also disputed in a friend-of-the-court brief that Zediva’s service was anything like its own. Walter gave the studios and Zediva parent WTV Systems until Aug. 8 to draw up a preliminary injunction and then hand it over to him by Aug. 10.
The FCC should “immediately withdraw LightSquared’s waiver authorizing upper channel [ancillary terrestrial component] deployment and stay lower channel ATC authorization until the studies called for by” the Defense and Transportation Departments are conducted and evaluated, said UPS in comments (http://xrl.us/bk3t7f) on the study filed by the technical working group (TWG) that looked at possible interference with GPS signals. The deadline for working group comments was Saturday, but filers had until the close of business Monday to file in docket 11-109 because the deadline fell on the weekend. LightSquared’s service poses a threat to UPS’ air cargo operations and its use of GPS for its daily truck delivery operations, UPS said. TechAmerica in its comments also asked the FCC to tread carefully to ensure LightSquared’s service doesn’t hurt GPS spectrum use (http://xrl.us/bk3t7s). Lockheed Martin said LightSquared’s revised roll out plan, which would begin service only in the lower part of the L-band and pause all operations in the upper part of the spectrum, doesn’t solve the interference issues (http://xrl.us/bk3t8n). The FCC should reject the revised plans, “rescind the conditional waiver, and otherwise ensure that the conclusions reached from the work of the TWG and further studies/tests be codified in its rules governing ATC use in the L-band, said Lockheed .
There seems to be little momentum now at the FCC for an AllVid rulemaking proposing how consumer electronics can connect to multichannel video programming distributors and get online content without using CableCARDs, agency officials said Friday. The day before, a 10-page letter from CE companies, groups and nonprofits that have been seeking the rulemaking was posted to docket 10-91. It remains to be seen whether the letter and lobbying of the commission by AllVid advocates will lead to the rulemaking being circulated soon, and it very well may not, some commission officials watching the proceeding said.
There seems to be little momentum for now at the FCC for an AllVid rulemaking proposing how CE gear can receive multichannel video programming distributor content without using CableCARDs, agency officials said Friday. The day before, a 10-page letter from CE companies, groups and nonprofits that have been seeking the rulemaking was posted to docket 10-91. It remains to be seen whether the letter and lobbying of the commission by AllVid advocates will lead to the rulemaking being circulated, and it very well may not, some commission officials watching the proceeding said.
The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled for June 6-9, 2011:
The FCC should consider developing a process to deal with complaints relating to video device accessibility, “even if it decided not to pursue any of the AllVid proposals,” Public Knowledge said in a filing posted Friday to docket 10-91. It recounted meetings where retransmission consent deals and online video distributors also were discussed with aides to all FCC members other than Chairman Julius Genachowski. The Media Bureau has effectively paused the AllVid proceeding that had sought to propose rules for all pay-TV providers to connect to video devices sold by retailers, without using CableCARDs (CED June 23 p7) . The process Public Knowledge seeks would let any manufacturer, developer or consumer alleging a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) violated Section 629 of the Telecom Act complain to the commission, Legal Director Harold Feld told us. “For example, when Zoom filed their complaint against Comcast last year that Comcast was discriminating against them in violation of Section 629, they needed to rely on the FCC’s general complaint regulations and did not have a clear process for filing their complaint. We think that if the commission plans to rely on ’the market’ to move forward, there must be some way to protect would-be providers of services -- as well as consumers -- from unfair and anticompetitive practices explicitly prohibited by the statute.” Cable modem maker Zoom and Comcast settled their dispute over Zoom’s ability to test its products to work on the cable operator’s broadband network, and the complaint was dismissed at both sides’ request in March. It’s not necessary for the commission to collect “comprehensive pricing data” on the market for deals between TV stations and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD), as the group and others have said could help the commission on the retrans rulemaking, Public Knowledge’s filing said. Even lacking such data, the commission can set up “boundaries and requirements” for those who don’t negotiate carriage deals in good faith, the nonprofit said. The FCC’s MVPD competition report is a “great opportunity” for the regulator to “broaden the scope of what is considered an MVPD,” the nonprofit said. Online video distributors should be able to choose whether they want to be classified as an MVPD, it said. The group acknowledged that will “involve components outside of the FCC’s jurisdiction, such as copyright,” and asked the commission to work with the Copyright Office “to facilitate consistent, uniform” rules.
The FCC should consider developing a process to deal with complaints relating to video device accessibility, “even if it decided not to pursue any of the AllVid proposals,” Public Knowledge said in a filing posted Friday to docket 10-91. It recounted meetings where retransmission consent deals and online video distributors also were discussed with aides to all FCC members other than Chairman Julius Genachowski. The Media Bureau has effectively paused the AllVid proceeding that had sought to propose rules for all pay-TV providers to connect to video devices sold by retailers, without using CableCARDs (CD June 23 p6). The process Public Knowledge seeks would let any manufacturer, developer or consumer alleging a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) violated Section 629 of the Telecom Act complain to the commission, Legal Director Harold Feld told us. “For example, when Zoom filed their complaint against Comcast last year that Comcast was discriminating against them in violation of Section 629, they needed to rely on the FCC’s general complaint regulations and did not have a clear process for filing their complaint. We think that if the commission plans to rely on ’the market’ to move forward, there must be some way to protect would-be providers of services -- as well as consumers -- from unfair and anticompetitive practices explicitly prohibited by the statute.” Cable modem maker Zoom and Comcast settled their dispute over Zoom’s ability to test its products to work on the cable operator’s broadband network, and the complaint was dismissed at both sides’ request in March. It’s not necessary for the commission to collect “comprehensive pricing data” on the market for deals between TV stations and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD), as the group and others have said could help the commission on the retrans rulemaking (CD June 29 p7), Public Knowledge’s filing said (http://xrl.us/bky4ny). Even lacking such data, the commission can set up “boundaries and requirements” for those who don’t negotiate carriage deals in good faith, the nonprofit said. The FCC’s MVPD competition report is a “great opportunity” for the regulator to “broaden the scope of what is considered an MVPD,” the nonprofit said. Online video distributors should be able to choose whether they want to be classified as an MVPD, it said. The group acknowledged that will “involve components outside of the FCC’s jurisdiction, such as copyright,” and asked the commission to work with the Copyright Office “to facilitate consistent, uniform” rules.
The FCC should consider developing a process to deal with complaints relating to video device accessibility, “even if it decided not to pursue any of the AllVid proposals,” Public Knowledge said in a filing posted Friday to docket 10-91. It recounted meetings where retransmission consent deals and online video distributors also were discussed with aides to all FCC members other than Chairman Julius Genachowski. The Media Bureau has effectively paused the AllVid proceeding that had sought to propose rules for all pay-TV providers to connect to video devices sold by retailers, without using CableCARDs (WID June 23 p4). The process Public Knowledge seeks would let any manufacturer, developer or consumer alleging a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) violated Section 629 of the Telecom Act complain to the commission, Legal Director Harold Feld told us. “For example, when Zoom filed their complaint against Comcast last year that Comcast was discriminating against them in violation of Section 629, they needed to rely on the FCC’s general complaint regulations and did not have a clear process for filing their complaint. We think that if the commission plans to rely on ’the market’ to move forward, there must be some way to protect would-be providers of services -- as well as consumers -- from unfair and anticompetitive practices explicitly prohibited by the statute.” Cable modem maker Zoom and Comcast settled their dispute over Zoom’s ability to test its products to work on the cable operator’s broadband network, and the complaint was dismissed at both sides’ request in March. The FCC’s MVPD competition report is a “great opportunity” for the regulator to “broaden the scope of what is considered an MVPD,” the nonprofit said. Online video distributors should be able to choose whether they want to be classified as an MVPD, it said. The group acknowledged that will “involve components outside of the FCC’s jurisdiction, such as copyright,” and asked the commission to work with the Copyright Office “to facilitate consistent, uniform” rules.
The FCC’s pending cramming notice of proposed rulemaking is couched as a wireline order, but also has a major focus on wireless, said agency officials who have seen the item and industry officials who have been told some of the details. Some proponents of bill shock rules worry that the wireless parts of the cramming order could be the replacement for proposed bill shock rules. When Chairman Julius Genachowski said he'd circulate a cramming NPRM last month (CD June 21 p6), he also indicated that final bill shock rules were on their way.