Lawmakers have introduced at least three different bills that would reshape the consumer video market, including online video, similar to efforts used to boost the satellite industry in the 1990s. None of the bills is expected to pass right away, and companies looking to expand in online video remain uncertain how far Congress will open the door for them.
AT&T’s Sponsored Data is bad for the internet, the economy, and you
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
AT&T’s Sponsored Data program is a way for AT&T to levy taxes on companies who can afford to pay. That has huge implications for the free market of the internet.
Why Comcast and other cable ISPs aren’t selling you gigabit Internet
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Gigabit-class broadband is capturing the imagination of Internet users throughout the country. Cable companies haven't been ignoring this consumer demand… but they haven't done anything to satisfy it, either.
Want to know if your ISP is capping data? Check GigaOm’s updated chart
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
An updated look at how Internet service providers (ISPs) around the US are trying to implement broadband data caps.
A new way to skin the net neutrality cat
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
The main trouble with the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules is that the rules, as written, don’t really address the problem they’re trying to remedy. They attempt to regulate what is essentially anti-competitive behavior by Internet service providers, or the potential for anti-competitive behavior, by treating it as a matter of communications law, instead of antitrust law.
Something’s happening to local news
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
So far this year, 223 local TV stations have changed hands. This is the biggest wave of media consolidation ever -- and it's all happening in small and mid-level markets, involving companies most people have never heard of.
Radio broadcasters face challenge from tech heavyweights
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
Radio remains the world’s most popular form of media in terms of audience, with listener figures at their highest levels in decades. But broadcasters face some of their fiercest competition for years as the world’s biggest technology companies – including Apple and Google – take aim at their business.
Think piracy is killing the music industry? This chart suggests otherwise.
Filed Under: Benton Headlines
For more than a decade, the recording industry has been complaining that online copyright infringement is devastating the music industry. And it's true that the revenues of conventional record labels have plunged in recent years. But if you look at the bigger picture, things don't look so grim.