Two news reports regarding the MSOs and their media company partners caught our eye last week. One provided details on Time Warner’s “TV Everywhere” initiative. The other discussed Viacom’s efforts to work with cable operators to develop an authentication process to ensure that only users paying a monthly cable bill will have online access to certain content. Taken together the reports revealed that these two players–which don’t always see eye-to-eye– are in agreement on an evolving business strategy that could–depending on whether you view the glass has half–full or half-empty–lead to either a severe limitation or an opening of the floodgates with respect to free content available on the Web. Continue Reading »
The proliferation of Internet use by children has undoubtedly challenged online service providers and technology providers alike.Protecting children from the various risks posed by Internet use has been, and continues to be, a major concern, as safety issues including sexual solicitation, online harassment, bullying and exposure to illegal content become more and more prevalent.
On Wednesday, the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, led by The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, issued a report entitled “Enhancing Child Safety & Online Technologies.”The report was compiled at the request of the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking, comprised of 50 state Attorneys General.The task force includes representatives from several well-known Internet social network and online service providers, including Google, AOL, Facebook and MTV Networks/Viacom.The report, which was a year in the making, sought to determine the extent to which currently-available technology could help to address online safety risks to youths in the U.S., with a primary focus on social networking.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act celebrated its 10th anniversary this week. That milestone provides us with an excuse to take a brief look at the statute and some ways it has affected the digital marketplace.
The DMCA was initially intended as the US implementation of two treaties adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1996 to establish rules for two evolving forms of digital media: music and computer software and databases. However, as the legislation was introduced in Congress, additional provisions were added in response to lobbying efforts by two distinct constituencies.
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