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| Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 00:26:44 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Kid tapes cop smashing car window, dragging man away after tasering him
Message-ID: <p0624086dd05bbed39ba5@[172.16.42.4]>
Kid tapes cop smashing car window, dragging man away after tasering him
Lawsuit: Shards of glass hit two children in backseat, the passenger,
and driver.
by David Kravets
Oct 8 2014
Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/10/kid-tapes-cop-smashing-car-window-dragging-man-away-after-tasering-him/
-or-
http://goo.gl/qGLQwa
***** Moderator's Note *****
Witness-For-The-Defense department: cellphone cameras are helping to
show that police are all-too-human and all-too-likely to forget the
limitations on their authority. of course, the image is visceral, and
the reports that will be put on paper are dry and boring. Nobody will
ever remember anything but the image, even if it turns out that the
police were justified in their actions.
Bill Horne
Moderator
|
| Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2014 23:14:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Google Fiber chief: program rights are 'biggest impediment' to deployment
Message-ID: <41461dff-5100-4791-b7b9-cf012ddce7ba@googlegroups.com>
FierceCable, October 7, 2014, by Daniel Frankel
While laying down fiber-optic cable is not cheap, Google Fiber chief Milo
Medin says the "single biggest impediment" to wider deployment of his
company's popular broadband service is TV program licensing costs.
"It is the single biggest piece of our cost structure," Medin said, speaking
at the COMPTEL fall conference in Dallas Monday, a telecom industry event
covered by the Washington Post.
Medin's remarks came on the same day that the National Basketball Association
announced somewhat controversial rights deals with ESPN and Turner, which will
essentially triple the price those networks pay to show pro basketball games
on TV and on multiscreen platforms.
Continued:
http://www.fiercecable.com/story/google-fiber-chief-program-rights-are-biggest-impediment-deployment/2014-10-07?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/pa4kt9p
I find this article particularly interesting for three reasons:
[1] "...program rights are 'biggest impediment'.." Well, duh.
[2] Milo Medin. Medin was employed at NASA's Ames Research Center in 1995
when John Doerr, a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,
recruited him to help found what was then known as "@Home". Doerr had
conceived the idea of combining KPCB's financial resources with CATV companies
to provide high-speed internet service ("cable modems") over CATV networks.
Doerr hired Medin to design the technology. Wired magazine reported the story
in January 1996:
http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/4.01/medin.html
@Home got off to a slow start, and pundits had a field day making fun of the
whole idea. But eventually @Home went live and by 2000 most large CATV
systems had affiliated with it. But as time passed, @Home began losing
customers as CATV companies started offering their own proprietary internet
services. @Home eventually disbanded, and Medin disappeared. I posted this
story on T-D in February 2009:
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.dcom.telecom/GcbOObyzZnk/sM16vCvKdDgJ
I never heard of Medin again until 2010 when he resurfaced as a Google VP.
[3] Pole attachment rights. Although the FierceCable article doesn't mention
it, pole-attachment costs are a significant budget item for Google's fiber
network, just as it is for CATV companies.
Google has stated that it expects cities to offer "reasonable terms for all
providers to attach fiber to any utility poles that are within the public
right of way." Google Fiber City Checklist, February 2014, page 6 (*1)
I note that in the three locations where Google has chosen to build, poles are
owned (or mostly owned) by a government entity that has made pole space
available at what Google is willing to pay: Kansas City, Provo, and Austin.
But apparently not all cities are willing to offer Google an acceptable rate:
"Four reasons why Google fiber will never come to Seattle." (*2)
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
(*1)
https://fiber.storage.googleapis.com/legal/googlefibercitychecklist2-24-14.pdf
).
(*2)
http://www.geekwire.com/2014/commentary-four-reasons-google-fiber-will-never-come-seattle/
Neal McLain
|
| Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 00:23:02 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Did AT&T hit you with illegal text fees? Now you can demand a refund
Message-ID: <p06240869d05bbdff69e7@[172.16.42.4]>
Did AT&T hit you with illegal text fees? Now you can demand a refund
AT&T forced to pay $80 million back to customers, plus $25 million in
penalties.
by Jon Brodkin
Oct 8 2014
Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/10/did-att-hit-you-with-illegal-text-fees-now-you-can-demand-a-refund/
-or-
http://goo.gl/JvNwsP
|
| Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 00:21:14 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: iOS 8.1 plugs security hole that made it easy to install emulators
Message-ID: <p06240868d05bbd99521f@[172.16.42.4]>
iOS 8.1 plugs security hole that made it easy to install emulators
"Date trick" workaround allowed for unapproved apps without jailbreaking.
by Kyle Orland
Oct 8 2014
Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/10/ios-8-1-plugs-security-hole-that-made-it-easy-to-install-emulators/
-or-
http://goo.gl/pfcbts
|
| Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 00:29:15 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Adobe's e-book reader sends your reading logs back to Adobe-in plain text
Message-ID: <p0624086fd05bbf58bad9@[172.16.42.4]>
Adobe's e-book reader sends your reading logs back to Adobe-in plain
text [Updated]
Digital Editions even tracks which pages you've read. It might break
a New Jersey Law.
by Sean Gallagher
Oct 7 2014
Ars Technica
Adobe's Digital Editions e-book and PDF reader-an application used by
thousands of libraries to give patrons access to electronic lending
libraries-actively logs and reports every document readers add to
their local "library" along with what users do with those files. Even
worse, the logs are transmitted over the Internet in the clear,
allowing anyone who can monitor network traffic (such as the National
Security Agency, Internet service providers and cable companies, or
others sharing a public Wi-Fi network) to follow along over readers'
shoulders.
...
http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/10/adobes-e-book-reader-sends-your-reading-logs-back-to-adobe-in-plain-text/
-or-
http://goo.gl/UtjKDY
|
| Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 14:35:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Viacom threatens to bolt Canada
Message-ID: <c951ba8c-6ae4-4eef-a6bf-9367fed0392b@googlegroups.com>
FierceCable, October 9, 2014, by Daniel Frankel
Making it rather clear that he doesn't support new rules proposed by
Canada's version of the FCC that would unbundle pay-TV programming,
Viacom's Keith Murphy, SVP of government relations has told the
commission that so-called "pick and play" mandates would set off a
"consumer welfare-destroying death spiral" for the Great White North's
TV industry.
Oh, and Viacom would bolt from Canadian pay-TV and take its services
over-the-top, too, if the rules were adopted ... eh.
The stern threats were rendered in a filing last week to the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which is
pondering a sweeping overhaul of the country's TV business. The
initiative is called "Let's Talk TV."
Continued:
http://www.fiercecable.com/story/viacom-threatens-bolt-canada-if-la-carte-rules-adopted-warns-pay-tv-faces-d/2014-10-09?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/oy44fax
As every T-D reader must know by now I don't think full a-la-carte
would significantly reduce the retail price of cable TV/satellite TV
service. My reasons are set forth here:
http://theoldcatvequipmentmuseum.org/320/321/index.html#alacarte
Nevertheless, as I've also noted in previous posts, I'm coming to the
view that something must be done about the continuous increases in
retransmission-consent fees. The Rockefeller-Thune "Local Choice"
bill directly attacks the legal footing of retransmission consent.
It's still bouncing around Capitol Hill so maybe there's hope...
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/216969-local-choice-bipartisan-senate-proposal-brings-market-reform
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/q779q2t
Neal McLain
|
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