Municipal broadband, stimulus funding and Google’s fiber projects are among alternatives some cities are looking at as Verizon backs away from further FiOS expansion and concentrates on completing current commitments, experts told us. Cities probably won’t make quick decisions to pursue their own fiber buildouts, but Verizon’s pause in seeking new franchises will prompt them to raise the possibility again, said lawyers who represent cities in these matters. Baltimore and Boston are among the major cities likely to consider the idea, they said.
Municipal broadband, stimulus funding and Google’s fiber projects are among alternatives some cities are looking at as Verizon backs away from further FiOS expansion and concentrates on completing current commitments, experts told us. Cities probably won’t make quick decisions to pursue their own fiber buildouts, but Verizon’s pause in seeking new franchises will prompt them to raise the possibility again, said lawyers who represent cities in these matters. Baltimore and Boston are among the major cities likely to consider the idea, they said.
A pause in court consideration of an appeal of media ownership rules was lifted Tuesday by the 3rd U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, a move cheered by an FCC member who didn’t support a stay earlier backed by the commission (CD April 6 p8). With its stay lifted in Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC, briefs from appellants are due May 17, said an order signed by Chief Judge Anthony Scirica. Respondent briefs are due 30 days after they've received those from petitioners and replies must be served in another 14 days, he said. Commissioner Robert McDowell believes “the lifting of the stay on the Commission’s very modest relaxation of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule is particularly appropriate given the economic upheaval affecting the ongoing viability of many daily newspapers and broadcast stations,” he said in a written statement. “I also believe that the Commission can only benefit from instruction of a Third Circuit ruling on the 2007 ownership rules as we begin the next round of the statutorily required quadrennial review of the regulations.” The FCC declined to comment, a spokesman said. Representatives for the FCC didn’t reply to messages seeking comment. “Although I think lifting the stay is unwarranted and unfortunate, it is understandable that the court would lose patience, given the FCC’s dilatory approach towards this proceeding,” said Media Access Project President Andrew Schwartzman, representing Prometheus.
The city of Alexandria, Va., was told that all cable TV negotiations related to Verizon FiOS service have been suspended nationwide as the company does a review, the city’s director of communications, Tony Castrilli, told us. But Verizon said its FiOS expansion plans haven’t changed. Meanwhile, the city is hoping to become a site for the high-speed Internet testbed announced by Google, Castrilli said.
The city of Alexandria, Va., was told that all cable TV negotiations related to Verizon FiOS service have been suspended nationwide as the company does a review, the city’s director of communications, Tony Castrilli, told us. But Verizon said its FiOS expansion plans haven’t changed. Meanwhile, the city is hoping to become a site for the high-speed Internet testbed announced by Google, Castrilli said.
The FCC allowed all types of subscription-video providers to enter into exclusive deals to market their services to apartments and other multiple dwelling units and to bill MDUs on behalf of residents. The order drafted by the Media Bureau and approved 5-0 this week sidestepped the question of whether pay-TV companies besides cable operators and certain telcos can exclusively serve an entire building. The expanded exclusives would have been allowed by the bureau draft circulated in late December (CD Jan 12 p3). They were excised from the final order, agency officials said.
YouTube launched a cyberbullying prevention campaign Friday with a video of a slightly overweight 15-year-old reciting a poem about the “Cry of the Dolphins.” The comment section is riddled with negative comments such as, “OMG too bad no one harpooned ur mom.” Halfway through the poem, oceanking97 pauses the video, reads one of the negative comments, then says, “Every day, real kids like me get bullied online. Please, think before you comment.” The screen then shows a link to the YouTube Safety Center, where cyberbullying and other problems can be reported. On the YouTube blog, YouTube recommended deleting negative comments and blocking the commenters, reporting comments that insult race, gender or disability, avoiding making negative comments oneself, and contacting a teacher or parent if the comments make the user feel unsafe or threatened.
Real-world examples show the need for the FCC to expand net neutrality rules to cover mobile broadband, Skyfire CEO Jeffrey Glueck told a commission forum on net neutrality. The talks at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Mass., stretched into the evening Wednesday, as experts delved into a complex set of issues.
Real-world examples show the need for the FCC to expand net neutrality rules to cover mobile broadband, Skyfire CEO Jeffrey Glueck told a commission forum on net neutrality. The talks at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Mass., stretched into the evening Wednesday, as experts delved into a complex set of issues.
Universal Music Group is suing an online music service in state court, an unusual forum for copyright infringement complaints. The major label told the New York Supreme Court, the state’s highest civil trial court, that Grooveshark was infringing its pre-1972 recordings by Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, the Jackson 5 and other acts whose works remain “immensely popular and valuable.” Pre-1972 recordings aren’t covered by the federal Copyright Act. Grooveshark settled a much broader infringement suit by EMI Music last year through a licensing agreement. UMG said in its complaint that the New York court has jurisdiction because Grooveshark, of Florida, allows New York residents to upload works and gives them access to infringing files, requiring “a high level of interaction between users, their computers, and defendant’s website and servers.” The service encourages users to upload the works at issue, after which they're available to other Grooveshark users for on-demand streaming using technology that lets them pause, forward, rewind or replay the stream, UMG said. A user can create a “library” of saved songs for on-demand streaming, share them through social applications, and through a new paid subscription option, cache songs on a phone so they can be played even out of network range, the complaint said. As recently as Dec. 29 Grooveshark was advertising other premium features in its “VIP” offering, such as more library storage. The suit said Grooveshark “refuses to implement readily available filtering.” UMG asked for compensatory and punitive damages. We couldn’t reach Grooveshark for comment.