TiVo Inc. has reached out to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over concerns that the use of Switched Digital Video (SDV) technology by Cable providers will destroy its business. While traditional cable infrastructure delivers all available channels at once to subscribers’ receivers, SDV will deliver only the channels currently being accessed.
The benefits of SDV are obvious; savings in bandwidth for one and the possibility of setting up systems with multiple times the channels currently being offered to subscribers. The system requires a receiver to send an upstream signal to a cable headend to request a signal be sent down the cable; a TiVo box cannot do this and relies on infrastructure that allows it to simply lock on to the available signals.
In a nutshell, this means that a TiVo box cannot change a channel on a SDV-based system, whereas a provider-issued box can. TiVo attacks the industry in a filing with the FCC on the issue, pointing out that TiVo is the “only major competitive entrant left standing” in the DVR space. It attributes this position to Cable’s historical reluctance to open networks to third-party hardware, as opposed to natural free-market forces.
“It is reasonable to foresee that the majority of, if not all, video programming will be SDV in the not too distant future,” says TiVo. “Without immediate FCC action, no market for competitive video devices can emerge.” SDV has been around for a while, but TiVo has found a new urgency due to an inflating number of U.S. households with SDV-based hookups.
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Result for: cable providers
Joost, the creation of Skype and Kazaa founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, is reportedly searching for a buyer among cable and satellite providers. Time Warner Cable has apparently expressed interest in Joost, which claims it could be a provider’s online video solution. It is struggling amongst its growing competitors (Hulu, YouTube etc.), with that predicted bright future it would have nowhere to be found.
Like Skype and Kazaa, Joost was based around peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, which at the time of the launch was touted as a way to provide excellent quality video to a very large group of viewers using the software. It has been through several technology setbacks and a management shake up in the past couple of years, and it also has failed to get top TV shows and movies.
Earlier this month, Sony Pictures decided not to renew a licensing agreement with Joost, around the same time that the studio was inking a new deal with Google Inc.’s YouTube instead.
Result for: cable providers
According to a new survey by music consultancy Music Ally, many users would completely disregard warning letters from ISPs threatening to shut off their Internet for piracy offenses.
The survey was given to US, UK and French citizens, and published by the research firm The Leading Question.
The study also shows that most consumers would prefer to download music legally from their ISPs rather then from their mobile carriers or from their cable providers.
46 percent of those studied chose their ISP as the “ideal music provider” compared to 10 percent who chose their cable or satellite TV company, and 5 percent who chose their mobile operator. An even smaller number, 3 percent, chose handset manufacturers such as Nokia or Apple as their preferred provider.
“ISPs need to find new added value offerings as their core service of offering access to the Internet becomes increasingly commoditised,” noted Tim Walker, CEO of The Leading Question, on Music Ally’s Website.
“Music looks like a good bet both for keeping existing customers and getting new ones, particularly if you can bundle in a music service so that it ‘feels’ free or very cheap.”
To the other matter at hand, 41 percent of those surveyed “admitted to using P2P services said they would stop downloading unlicensed music if they were sent a warning letter from their ISP.” 63 percent said they would stop if they were threatened with having their Internet service shut off.
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