The 463: Inside Tech Policy

Convergence = UK Internet Regulation?

The chairman of Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, said this week in a BBC story that:

"The challenge will arise when boundaries between TV and the internet truly blur and then there is a balance to be struck between protecting consumers and allowing them to assess the risks themselves."

A BT executive responds:

"How risque can I be in this new age? With celebrity chefs serving up more expletives than hot dinners, surely I can push it to the limit."

463 partners will be having dinner with a visiting delegation of British MPs next week.  We'll get their opinons on this.

When Think Tanks Attack!

One of the very few things that dull the digital content piracy debates is the lack of partisan rancor.  For every Republican Orrin Hatch fighting for Hollywood, you get a get a Democrat Howard Berman doing the same.  And, the same goes for the party breakdown, or lack thereof, of legislators who are wary of legislating away P2P technologies.

So, when you don't have Republicans or Democrats to entertain you with their pugilism, who can you turn to? 

Well, the National Hockey League is on labor dispute hiatus, so how about think tanks!...

New Tech Gives TV Industry the Willie-Nillies

New technologies could place "the very creation of television programming in jeopardy" says one network exec in John Markoff and Lorne Manly's NY Times piece today on MythTV, BitTorrent, and Videora.

Essentially, MythTV is software that helps you turn your computer into a cable box, allowing you to record shows, use the Internet on your TV, and strip out commercials.  This means no more cable and Tivo subscriptions and no rented or purchased cable and DVR boxes.

BitTorrent greatly quickens the process of downloading video content.  Twenty million people have dowloaded it.

And, Videora is software that allows people to find the BitTorrent content that they want.

Add, all of these technologies together and you have a the setting for an industry freak-out. Naturally, this means lawsuits, legislation and regulation. 

Indeed, a NBC Universal executive argues:

"...that the industry and the government have to move - fast - to establish rules by which copyrighted television programming 'cannot be moved around willy-nilly.'"

One controversial regulation has already been implemented by the FCC and is being actively fought in both court and at the grass roots level. Here's more from the Times' story:

Davos Peeks

463 has a consultant on the ground at Davos working with clients.  More from her later.  In the meantime, you can watch webcasts of official proceeding highlights here.

Here's the official WEF Davos blog.

The BBC has a the best engligh language Davos coverage.

How to sum up Davos?  The BBC's Tim Weber tries here.....

I Want My GTV?

It's doubtful that Dire Straits would pen an ode to Google's new video search capabilities.  Run this search, for example, and you get gripping images like:

Still, as Chris Gaither at the Los Angeles Times reminds us today, Google has very good reason to be tip-toeing into the video waters:

The Times Converges Google & VOIP

The normally staid London Times is, rather assertively, picking up on a rumor that Google is getting into the broadband and VOIP game.  How assertive?  The story in tomorrow's edition leads:

Google revolutionised the internet. Now it is hoping to do the same with our phones.

The company behind the US-based internet search engine looks set to launch a free telephone service that links users via a broadband internet connection using a headset and home computer.

Nouveau-Techno-Luddite-ism

In a San Francisco Chronicle article today about the contact management Internet firm, Plaxo, co-founder Todd Masonis nails the description of the tech-savvy nattering negative nabobs who reflexively distrust Plaxo's helpful service (they feel that giving up their contact information is one step away from a privacy disaster):

"You'd expect early adopters to be most accepting.  There's almost a nouveau-techno-Luddite-ism out there."

Beautiful.

Schwarzenegger and Stock Options

The Financial Accounting Standards Board says that their green eye shades only allow them to see as far as accounting practices  -- and that they don't care whether the standards that they set will have a negative economic impact on the United States and our standing as a world leader in innovation. 

Not their job, they shrug.

Some in Washington suggest that mere Congressmen and Senators shouldn't get in the way of FASB's so-called experts and block new accounting practices regardless of any negative impact that the standards might have on the ability of Americans to create the next Google, Staples or Jet Blue.

Not their job, they shrug.

Meanwhile, as FASB's June deadline to expense options grows ever closer and much less ethereal, the negative realities are beginning to hit home at start-ups all over the country.  See here.  Or here.

But, someone with strong shoulders (literally) isn't shrugging.  Governor Schwarzenegger's administration promised yesterday to look into how expensing stock options could damage California's economy by creating an environment that provided less taxable revenues for the state.

No rule that does more harm than good should be fait accompli.  Thankfully, Governor Schwarzenegger is not much for conventional wisdom and decided that protecting the economy is his administration's job.

Helping a Brother Out

The 463 is always willing to help a friend.  In this case it's Franz Wisner -- an old buddy from my Gov. Pete Wilson press office days.

A few years back, Franz's fiance left him three days before their wedding.  Weeks later he was demoted at work.  Find out in this Sunday's Los Angeles Times Magazine why these things were the best thing to ever happen to Franz, and get advance word on Franz's soon-to-be-released book "Honeymoon With My Brother."  Franz's own site is here. A movie is on its way, too.

Photo is from February's Vanity Fair.

Bad Education

With a Bush White House, Republican majorities in Congress and a Republican governor in California, complaining about Republican policy decisions can get a little rote for even most partisan of Democrats (The 463, btw, bats both ways).  So, three cheers to a gaggle of Democrats in the California state legislature who prove that you can have legitimate reasons to bash the donkey party in 2005.

You see, what do you get when you put together five years of service on the state board of education; tireless support of successful, innovative charter schools; millions of dollars in campaign donations to Democrats; service as TechNet president; and, a CEO role at NetFlix? You get the Bronx cheer from a Democratic run committee and the first rejection of a Schwarzenegger appointee (who happens to be very much of a Democrat -- someone who was first appointed to the board by Gray Davis.)

This is the fate of Reed Hastings.  Let former Dukakis campaign manager Susan Estrich explain: