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Kevin Martin’s Open Network Manifesto
An open, unfettered Internet has gotten a boost from an unlikely source: Republican FCC chair Kevin Martin.
NY Times: Kevin Martin’s Open Network Manifesto.
Excerpt:
Set-top boxes used with cable TV, [Martin] said, should be seen the same way as cellphones. Consumers need to be able to use any set-top box to access any sort of content.
This is important, he said, because of the rise of video programming on the Internet.
“Consumers can’t take content from the Internet and easily watch it on their televisions,” he said. He blamed cable companies from preventing set-top box makers, like TiVo, from being able to offer devices that can combine Internet video with cable offerings like on-demand movies.
“The cable operators won’t license a device that integrates Internet video content with their content,” he said. “I’m saying that’s wrong, and I am trying to get the other commissioners to address it.” ...
July 30, 2008 at 04:47 PM in Washington & public policy | Permalink
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"Set-top boxes used with cable TV, [Martin] said, should be seen the same way as cellphones"
Sadly operators treat them and us with equal disdain.
Posted by: Nahri | Aug 9, 2008 3:11:47 AM
Nice goal - damn hard to do.
In order to keep costs down, both for consumers and themselves, cable/telco STBs tend to have just enough horsepower to do basic things and are locked down tighter than a drum to try to prevent theft of content, to keep the content providers happy, and theft of service.
That makes it hard to have the memory to be able to support very many codecs and types of streaming. The updated cableCards look promising and I am looking forward to getting an HD Tivo as soon as the SDV support is released.
Doc
Posted by: Doc McClenny | Aug 10, 2008 5:56:57 AM
