[opendtv] Re: CNET: HBO Now to be sold through Cablevision too
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2015 07:33:29 -0400
On Mar 21, 2015, at 7:53 PM, Albert Manfredi <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
>
> There have recently been at least three articles that contradict you, Craig.
> HBO was unable to get their direct to consumer service set up, until
> Cablevision agreed. One company. Did you really not understand the point of
> the article at all? Astonishing.
The only thing astonishing here is your stupidity.
The official launch of HBO Now was announced March 9th at the Apple spring
Forward event by CEO Richard Prepler. Cablevision announced they would sell HBO
Now on March 16th. Cablevision had no ability to prevent HBO from creating the
new direct HBO service, but they were affected by the decision.
As you frequently pointed out, HBO has been publicly discussing the fact that
it was planning a direct to consumer service since last summer. Those public
discussions led to numerous analyst articles talking about the potential impact
on HBOs MVPD partners. Some analysts were astute enough to figure out that HBO
was using the new service to gain leverage over the MVPDs and increase the
revenue split with potential new middlemen.
Please show me any article that conflicts with what I just said.
>
> With net neutrality as the law of the land, HBO would be allowed to put its
> content, direct to consumer, on any ISP net is decides. No need for any
> special deals.
Net neutrality has nothing to do with this Bert. Netflix has been delivered
over MVPD wires for years. And HBO DID decide to cut new deals with new
middlemen, rather than selling the service direct. They could have chosen to
set up their own servers and customer service/billing operation like Netflix. I
still do not know how the server infrastructure for HBO Now is set up. They may
require Apple and Cablevision to host the content. But we do know that HBO
decided to use middlemen to sell HBO Now.
>
> These multiple articles explain exactly why we need Title II, or something
> similar, for broadband. Because yes indeed, content is being blocked.
Please provide even one example of content being blocked by U.S. ISP services,
other than file sharing sites that distribute pirated content. We are not
talking about data rate throttling or an ISP asking for higher peering fees
because of asymmetrical traffic. We are talking about BLOCKING, which was
already illegal under anti-trust laws.
>
> Read the articles again and again, Craig, until you understand the words
> written in them. And then if you want to disagree, explain what words in
> those articles are false, and provide evidence. Make it plain as day that you
> are not accepting the content of those many articles.
Please read these articles against Bert, and show me even one that documents
actual blocking of a service.
The only legal blocking I am aware of is when content owners pull their content
from a MVPD service during retransmission consent negotiations. I believe that
in at least one of these disputes, the content owner blocked access to a TV
Everywhere site for the subscribers to that MVPDs broadband service.
And then there is your favorite boogeyman. Content owners who block access to
their OTT sites for specific hardware platforms. Remember when Hulu and others
blocked Google TV?
I have seen nothing in the FCC Net Neutrality order saying that content owners
cannot block specific devices...
Regards
Craig
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