[opendtv] Re: Does Netflix/Comcast Deal Remove Obstacle To TWC Merger? - Forbes
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 00:15:46 +0000
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> There are three oligopolies Bert: content, video distribution and ISPs.
> The last two are mostly the same company in each market.
Yes agreed so far. But this goes to the crux of our disagreements.
1. The ISPs are typically local monopolies, although hopefully 4G cellular
could change that. So, as long as ISPs remain **strictly** standards-based and
**strictly** content-neutral, I can live with that. Just as I do with my
electric and water utilities. Same plumbing standards, same voltage and
frequency standards, same Ethernet and IP standards, no matter which of these
utilities you use. I don't have to go begging hat in hand to my power utility
to buy a light bulb, Craig.
2. The content owners compete over the neutral Internet medium and the neutral
OTA medium. You might call them oligopolies, but at least there are 6 or more
of them. And vast amounts of others on the Internet, even if not necessarily in
English.
3. But for those with MVPD subscriptions, the "video distribution" live streams
aspect is in practice a local monopoly. That's the only non-standards-based
monopoly in the bunch.
> Operating a walled garden that uses satellites or cables/fibers to
> deliver video streams versus IP packets is just a matter of technical
> semantics:
No, it's not. The IP distribution medium has miraculously remained neutral and
standards-based, so that EVEN IF your ISP is an MVPD, the IP fraction of its
bandwidth is still usable by any standards-based IP appliance. Incredible good
fortune. Let's not pretend this is only a matter of semantics.
> content owners have maintained their oligopoly over multiple generations
> of technology. It will be no more difficult to move these oligopolies to
> the Internet, if all else stays the same.
They are already on the Internet, Craig. You are ONLY talking about a matter of
degree. And indications are, from articles posted even by you, that even
hold-outs like ESPN are deliberating their future.
Bert
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