Monty Solomon posted:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/09/why-millions-dish-networks-customers-have-been-cut-off-hbo/?utm_term=.b1a19f568002
Just a couple of telling quotes, to demonstrate exactly what has always ailed
the legacy MVPD model, what our crooked FCC Chairman wants to turn the Internet
into, and what, instead, the Internet was designed to solve convincingly, minus
the corruption rampant at today's FCC:
"The standoff between Dish and HBO stems from a seemingly run-of-the-mill
contract negotiation over whether Dish should pay HBO for a guaranteed number
of customers, whether those subscribers materialize or not."
On the face of it, I'd say that HBO is being too greedy for their own good.
Which, of course, they are. But the more complete picture is that the walled
garden, single gatekeeper model, of one-way legacy MVPD infrastructures,
promotes just this kind of limitless greed. Passively split one-way broadcast
was the only technically viable solution in the 1970s, for broadband TV
signals. A model that begs for the gatekeeper and content ownners to be in
cahoots. But there's simply no excuse to retain that distribution model today.
Oh yeah. That's why this amazingly corrupt FCC Chairman is doing his level best
to allow such arachaic models to be superimposed on the two-way Internet. Allow
the middlemen ISPs to prevent multiple sources from existing, if they choose
to. Brilliant!
"The impasse carries enormous stakes that reflect the dire condition of the
legacy television business. What began as a trickle of consumers toward digital
TV alternatives, such as Netflix and Hulu, has turned into a torrent, with
analysts such as eMarketer predicting that 33 million Americans will have given
up their pay-TV subscriptions by the end of the year. With both Dish and AT&T
reporting even-steeper-than-expected declines in their traditional TV
subscriber base in recent months, the pressure to retain customers is intense,
analysts say."
As long as the Internet can still be counted on, as a neutral telecom service,
the right things will happen. That's how our mostly free economy
auto-regulates. Excessive greed is self-limiting. But this much too clearly
explains why the corrupt FCC is trying so hard to wreck the Internet. Plain as
day.
Bert
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