Tea leaf-reading analysts are speculating this afternoon that Comcast is currently hoarding cash as part of an effort to revisit its 2003 spending spree days. You remember 2003, right? That was the year Comcast made a brash $US54 billion bid for Disney.
Viacom wants Time Warner Cable to pay more for its channels, like MTV and Comedy Central. TWC doesn’t want to pay. So on Jan. 1, they could all go away for TWC subscribers.
Some of you P2P fans may want to know about a new coalition called Arts + Labs. It may sound like some kind of open-source hippie think tank, but it’s actually a powerful alignment of film and music copyright owners (NBC Universal, Viacom and the Songwriters Guild of America) and tech firms and ISPs (Microsoft, Cisco Systems and AT&T). It’s a group that could put together a pretty serious anti-piracy system without much trouble. Saul Hansell at the NY Times says the group claims that “network operators must have the flexibility to manage and expand their networks to defend against net pollution and illegal file trafficking which threatens to congest and delay the network for all consumers.” Hansell interprets this as a call to filter packets, and put the kibosh on any dubious transfers.
In the ongoing legal kerfuffle between Viacom and Google, it was beginning to look like Youtube users were going to take the fall for the Goog. Privacy advocates cried foul when a judge ruled that Google had to turn over the IP addresses and user IDs of the viewers for every YouTube video to Viacom, but in a document filed yesterday both companies agreed to mask the user data, assigning arbitrary identifiers to users in lieu of actual info. The masking system will likely be similar to AOL’s hilarious botched search dataset experiment two years ago, but I’d say a public release of this data is unlikely. [Ars]
Remember Viacom suing YouTube and Google for one BILLION dollars eons ago? That’s still going on! And while a judge ruled yesterday that while Google doesn’t have to reveal its secret search sauce to the multimedia giantface, he did grant Viacom’s request for YouTube to turn over records of “every video watched by YouTube users,” and that includes their username and IP address. Yeah that’s right, Viacom will know every time you watch “Pork n Beans” or need to refuel your day with Powerthirst. (Or watch Viacom’s The Daily Show, you bastard.) And like that, the illusion of YouTube privacy was gone. [YouTube]
As if it hasn’t been a rough enough patch for Yahoo, the company just announced that it would be ditching its iffy attempt at all-you-can-eat DRM music, Yahoo! Music Unlimited, and turn what subscribers it does have over to Rhapsody. This is good news for people who may have signed up for Yahoo before reading reviews; in our observations, Rhapsody is a much better service. The only thing that strikes fear in us, from the press release: “A simple process…will convert Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscribers’ music libraries to Rhapsody.” Uhhh, just don’t call it ConvertsForSure, okay? Thanks. Press release after jump.
While overseeing a hearing on the PRO-IP Act, a bill that might make statutory damages for copyright infringement even more obscene, Rep. Howard Berman, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, pondered out loud about other ridiculous copyright stuff he wants to do. Like make the DMCA an even more horrible piece of legislation by neutering its safe harbor provisions.
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Because of the WGA strike, there’s no Daily Show, which sucks. But if you think you’re suffering, think of how the writers of that wonderful program feel! In this video that the writers of our favourite mock newscast made on the picketline, they clearly explain why this strike is happening and how the studio chiefs are total hypocrites. And they have a point! I mean, how can Viacom go around suing YouTube for one billion dollars and then turn around and say there’s no money to be made on the internet? Scumbags! [Defamer] daily
A smorgasborg of media companies—Viacom, Disney, News Corp., NBC Universal, CBS, and others, including Microsoft—have formed a coalition laying out guidelines for protecting copyrights online. Their “principles” include using technology to wipe out copyright no-no content generated by users, as well as shutting it out before it hits the public intertubes. You’ll notice GooTube isn’t part of the list—they’re not of the pre-emptive blockage philosophy, as of yet. However, some analysts think Google will have to play ball if their guidelines do become an actual standard.
While it seems like many sensible companies have realised that DRM doesn’t curb piracy and just pisses off their customers, it appears that Viacom didn’t get the memo. Today, CEO Philippe Dauman whined to the US Chamber of Commerce that it’s too easy to copy media and that companies should be using stronger, more widespread DRM and watermarking. He also wants ISPs and hosting companies to work with companies to snitch on pirates and turn them in to the Copyright Gestapo. Just give it up already, people. The tides are turning. Don’t fight it. It’s for your own good. [Crave]
