Net neutrality loses

[Bob78164]

Here is the opinion of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacating the FCC's net neutrality rules. The majority opinion signals fairly clearly that the FCC can impose net neutrality, but to do so it will have to classify broadband providers as common carriers, at least as to the services they provide to content providers. --Bob

[silverscreenselect]

Here is the opinion of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacating the FCC's net neutrality rules. The majority opinion signals fairly clearly that the FCC can impose net neutrality, but to do so it will have to classify broadband providers as common carriers, at least as to the services they provide to content providers. --Bob

Here's someone else who loses... Netflix and, undoubtedly, Netflix subscribers.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014 ... s/4491117/

[BackInTex]

Differing business models.

Cable
Cable company pays content providers and charge subscribers for delivery of content

Internet
ISPs charge content providers AND subcribers (and charge subscribers surcharges for excessive usage) for delivery of content

Something will change.

[silverscreenselect]

There's another interesting case that the Supreme Court just agreed to take involving Aereo. I've got Aereo service to allow us to watch TV in a couple of rooms where we don't have a satellite feed, and we really like it. Aereo is available in about ten major cities including Atlanta. Subscribers pay $8 a month for basic service which allows them to record 20 hours of programming and watch live local broadcasts.

Each subscriber rents a tiny antenna at Aereo's central location and the local channels that are available (plus a couple other freebies like Bloomberg TV) are then sent to the subsriber over the internet to watch on the computer (or on a Roku box like we have). Several networks have sued Aereo, which claims all they're doing is availing subscribers of a powerful central antenna (Aereo has won every case so far at the lower level). Obviously, unlike cable and satellite providers which charge a lot more than $8 a month, Aereo doesn't pay any retransmission fees to the networks. A couple of the networks claim that if they lose the Supreme Court case, they will quit broadcasting over the air and become cable only like ESPN.