®* ’t Idortlanh (Observer NW C ollege C areers
luly 4. 2012
s p e c ia l
Page 21
e d itio n
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Big Cable’s Plan to Lock Down Your Future
O ne future spreads p o w er over
inform ation to the m any, w hile the
o th er concentrates it back into the
hands o f the few.
A ccording to a recent com Score
survey, the n um ber o f people w atch­
by T imothy K arr
ing long-form videos via the
T h e r e a re tw o
Internet grew by 47 percent
paths to choose from
in ju s t the last year. T his
and tw o destinies for
trend is the driving force for
te le v is io n v ie w e rs:
online video services like
one better, the other
Netflix, YouTube, and A m a­
far w orse. T he path
zon, com panies that allow
taken will have lasting
view ers to bypass B ig C able
p o litic a l
co n se­
— w ith its costly bundles
q u e n ce s.
o f c h a n n e ls — an d g o
O ne leads to a fu ­
straight to the videos they
ture w here new technology offers w ant to see.
m illions o f video channels stream ­
T he rise o f online video is cau s­
ing in and out o f A m erican hom es ing fits am ong executives at cable
via fast online netw orks. T he other g ia n ts lik e C o m c a s t a n d T im e
involves a handful o f local cable W arner C able. T hey aren't about to
m onopolies controlling w hat pro­ abandon m onthly subscriber rates
gram m ing is aired — and blocking and prem ium packages to indiscrim i­
anything that m ight loosen their nately m ove d ata fo r Internet-em ­
grip on view ers.
pow ered users.
O ne future looks like the people-
T h ey 'v e in stitu ted "data caps"
pow ered Internet, w here choice is to stifle the budding population o f
boundless and the audience is in people w ho've to ssed their cable
charge. T he o ther is a throw back to rem otes in fav o r o f a brow ser-based
c a b le te le v isio n 's " g ild e d age," television experience. C ap s m ake it
w here pow erful gatekeepers picked ex p en siv e for anyone w ishing to
w hat people w atched, w hen they tear dow n the artificial divide that
w atched it, and how m uch they paid separates a telev isio n screen from
fo r the privilege.
an Internet m onitor.
A n d th e ca b le c o m p a n ie s a re n 't
sto p p in g th e re . T h e y 'v e ro lle d ou t
p lan s to d is a d v a n ta g e th e u p sta rts
th a t are b u ild in g th e se a lte rn a ­
tiv e s to c ab le . In M arch , C o m c a st
a n n o u n c e d th a t s o m e v id e o s
v ie w ed on its o w n X fin ity se rv ic e
w o u ld n 't* c o u n t a g a in st its c u s ­
to m e rs ' In te rn e t d a ta c a p s . I f
y o u 're a c c u sto m e d to u sin g p o p u ­
la r m o v ie an d te le v isio n s tre a m ­
ing serv ices like N etflix , h o w ev er,
y o u 're o u t o f lu ck .
C able co m p an ies are also im p le­
m e n tin g v e rific a tio n sy ste m s to
e n su re th at o n ly c ab le s u b s c rib ­
ers are a b le to a c c e ss c e rta in ty p es
o f o n lin e p ro g ra m m in g . T h e s e
sch e m e s a llo w c a b le c o m p a n ie s
to fa v o r th e ir o n lin e c o n te n t w h ile
p e n a liz in g p e o p le w h o p re fe r g o ­
ing e lse w h e re .
" In c re a sin g ly , d iffe re n t p o w ­
ers an d d iffe re n t in s titu tio n s w an t
to re tu rn u s to th e b r o a d c a s t
m o d el," U n iv e rs ity o f T e x a s m e ­
d ia s c h o la r D a v id P arry said d u r­
in g a re c e n t In te rn e t c o n fe re n c e
in N ew Y ork. P a rry 's to p c o n c e rn
is th a t c o r p o r a tio n s p r e f e r a
" p o p u la tio n th a t's m a n ip u la te d
fro m th e to p d o w n ."
W hat's happening w ith new lim ­
its to inform ation access, innova­
tio n , a n d c h o ic e g o e s b e y o n d
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
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Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
O ther Services): $25.00
od
•
Abusing
dominant
market shares
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
m erely returning o u r television e x ­
perience to a tim e before the public
Internet, argues Parry.
V ertically integrated behem oths
like C om cast/N B C U niversal are a
new m odel o f m edia consolidation
in the Internet age. T hese c o m p a­
nies not only control access to the
Internet, but also ow n an em pire o f
digital content that is transm itted
via these netw orks.
It's a dangerous com bination with
built-in incentives to take aw ay user
choice and dism antle the open and
dem ocratic architecture that's m ade
the Internet such a pow erful force
for users. T he u n challenged rise o f
c a b le is b e h in d th e J u s tic e
D epartm ent's recent decision to in ­
vestigate the an ti-com petitive c o n ­
duct o f these m assive m edia co m p a­
nies.
W hile the likes o f C om cast and
Tim e W arner C able have every right
to profit from their investm ents and
services, they shouldn't abuse their
dom inant m arket share to rem ake
our Internet in their im age. If the
dem ocratic prom ise o f the digital
age is to be m et, w e can't go back to
the future. W e can't let new m edia
c o m e u n d e r th e c o n tro l o f o ld
g atekeepers.
Timothy Karr is the senior strat­
egy director for Free Press.
Area/Orientai Rugs:
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