Comments on: An Experience in Confusopoly http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/ Same old blog, brand new place Sun, 16 Jun 2013 01:16:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Brett Glass http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/comment-page-1/#comment-304543 Brett Glass Sat, 18 Aug 2012 01:05:45 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/?p=5349#comment-304543 That one swine on the line is a pig in the python. It demands more bandwidth than many of our customers buy. We are willing to sell them that bandwidth but not give it to them for free. That one swine on the line is a pig in the python. It demands more bandwidth than many of our customers buy. We are willing to sell them that bandwidth but not give it to them for free.

]]> By: Doc Searls http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/comment-page-1/#comment-304217 Doc Searls Tue, 14 Aug 2012 18:00:28 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/?p=5349#comment-304217 Brett, Two things. First, I know Slingbox is a bandwidth hog. But I only use it when nobody is home, so I'm the only swine on the line. Second, Dish should be selling the Slingbox as CDN service, rather than as an upstreaming box for customers at end points. But, alas, they don't. Meanwhile, Cox, our ISP, hasn't complained. Brett,

Two things. First, I know Slingbox is a bandwidth hog. But I only use it when nobody is home, so I’m the only swine on the line. Second, Dish should be selling the Slingbox as CDN service, rather than as an upstreaming box for customers at end points. But, alas, they don’t. Meanwhile, Cox, our ISP, hasn’t complained.

]]> By: Doc Searls http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/comment-page-1/#comment-304177 Doc Searls Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:52:39 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/?p=5349#comment-304177 flyat, did you not read what I said above? flyat, did you not read what I said above?

]]> By: fiyat http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/comment-page-1/#comment-304170 fiyat Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:03:40 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/?p=5349#comment-304170 Problem #1 Dish network, try Direct TV. that will solve your problems. You can have Direct TV on any mobile device or computer with any level of programing. I have had Direct TV and Prime Star before that I have never regretted staying Direct TV. Problem #1 Dish network, try Direct TV. that will solve your problems. You can have Direct TV on any mobile device or computer with any level of programing. I have had Direct TV and Prime Star before that I have never regretted staying Direct TV.

]]> By: Brett Glass http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/comment-page-1/#comment-303956 Brett Glass Sat, 11 Aug 2012 02:07:43 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/?p=5349#comment-303956 We had another customer who tried to Slingbox the Olympics to a friend who didn't have cable. Now, if you know anything about the Slingbox, you know it's an obscene bandwidth hog, because it does a very poor job of compressing the video. So, when the Slingbox attempts to push the connection beyond the amount of bandwidth the customer's paying for, and the network pushes back, he calls to complain. Doesn't understand why I will not sell him Internet bandwidth at a loss. We had another customer who tried to Slingbox the Olympics to a friend who didn’t have cable. Now, if you know anything about the Slingbox, you know it’s an obscene bandwidth hog, because it does a very poor job of compressing the video. So, when the Slingbox attempts to push the connection beyond the amount of bandwidth the customer’s paying for, and the network pushes back, he calls to complain. Doesn’t understand why I will not sell him Internet bandwidth at a loss.

]]> By: Jim Pasquale http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/comment-page-1/#comment-303955 Jim Pasquale Sat, 11 Aug 2012 01:53:30 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/?p=5349#comment-303955 Wouldn't it have been so much easier for NBC and we the viewer, if they simply went to every major broadcaster and fed them the live feeds on an event by event to do what they pleased as packing goes. Whether a subscriber then DVR the events they wanted to see or viewed them over VOD or PPV? Oh wait that would muck up ratings, but would have generated a shared revenue model. NBC Olympic coverage = Fail Personally afte the first day I gave up. Wouldn’t it have been so much easier for NBC and we the viewer, if they simply went to every major broadcaster and fed them the live feeds on an event by event to do what they pleased as packing goes. Whether a subscriber then DVR the events they wanted to see or viewed them over VOD or PPV? Oh wait that would muck up ratings, but would have generated a shared revenue model. NBC Olympic coverage = Fail

Personally afte the first day I gave up.

]]> By: Let’s help NBC prep for the 2014 Winter Olympics | Customer Commons http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/comment-page-1/#comment-303949 Let’s help NBC prep for the 2014 Winter Olympics | Customer Commons Fri, 10 Aug 2012 23:52:21 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/?p=5349#comment-303949 [...] has proved hard for many cable and satellite TV customers (myself, for example.) who would also like to watch NBC’s coverage on computers, smartphones, tablets, or large [...] [...] has proved hard for many cable and satellite TV customers (myself, for example.) who would also like to watch NBC’s coverage on computers, smartphones, tablets, or large [...]

]]> By: Doc Searls http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/comment-page-1/#comment-303936 Doc Searls Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:07:29 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/?p=5349#comment-303936 Thanks, Peter. In fact there is a good chance we'll go with DirectTV eventually. Dish and Direct have leapfrogged each other in service offerings over the years, and we chose them based on advantages that are no longer exclusive. (Such as the RF remote, which allows us to hide the receiver in a cabinet.) I see here... http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/new_customer/base_packages.jsp?footernavtype=-1&lpos=header ... that DirectTV has MSNBC in all of its packages, which Dish does not. If Hal's right (above), that would solve our problem. But at this point it's not worth the trouble. The Olympics are one of the rare events that bring us back to watching TV. Otherwise, it's just a place-holder in our lives, mostly for guests who still need their TV fix. Thanks, Peter. In fact there is a good chance we’ll go with DirectTV eventually. Dish and Direct have leapfrogged each other in service offerings over the years, and we chose them based on advantages that are no longer exclusive. (Such as the RF remote, which allows us to hide the receiver in a cabinet.) I see here… http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/new_customer/base_packages.jsp?footernavtype=-1&lpos=header … that DirectTV has MSNBC in all of its packages, which Dish does not. If Hal’s right (above), that would solve our problem. But at this point it’s not worth the trouble. The Olympics are one of the rare events that bring us back to watching TV. Otherwise, it’s just a place-holder in our lives, mostly for guests who still need their TV fix.

]]> By: Peter Bernacki http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/comment-page-1/#comment-303857 Peter Bernacki Fri, 10 Aug 2012 10:31:29 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/?p=5349#comment-303857 Problem #1 Dish network, try Direct TV. that will solve your problems. You can have Direct TV on any mobile device or computer with any level of programing. I have had Direct TV and Prime Star before that I have never regretted staying Direct TV. Problem #1 Dish network, try Direct TV. that will solve your problems. You can have Direct TV on any mobile device or computer with any level of programing. I have had Direct TV and Prime Star before that I have never regretted staying Direct TV.

]]> By: Doc Searls http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2012/08/01/an-experience-in-confusopoly/comment-page-1/#comment-303756 Doc Searls Wed, 08 Aug 2012 18:58:22 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/?p=5349#comment-303756 Brett, I was also wondering if this violated the Consent Decree (though I don't know). When I look up <i>comcast nbcu consent decree +olympics</i>, the only result addressing the question directly is your comment on this post. And this isn't due to "personalization" by engines. Same thing happens on Bing as on Google and on several different browsers. There just doesn't seem to be much on it yet. <a href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/files/docs/Comcast-NBCU%20Consent%20Decree.pdf" rel="nofollow">Here is a .pdf copy of the Decree at Pubic Knowledge</a>. And <a href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/comcast-nbcu-consent-decree" rel="nofollow">here is a .html one</a>. If anybody can offer help on this, please come forward. I think ISPs such as Brett's have a legitimate gripe here, and actually do present a potential source of revenue for NBC, as well as a good way to reach viewers who might not otherwise pay. Persisting with cable-only subscriptions for Olympics viewing is highly retro, and will only become more so. Brett, I was also wondering if this violated the Consent Decree (though I don’t know). When I look up comcast nbcu consent decree +olympics, the only result addressing the question directly is your comment on this post. And this isn’t due to “personalization” by engines. Same thing happens on Bing as on Google and on several different browsers. There just doesn’t seem to be much on it yet. Here is a .pdf copy of the Decree at Pubic Knowledge. And here is a .html one.

If anybody can offer help on this, please come forward. I think ISPs such as Brett’s have a legitimate gripe here, and actually do present a potential source of revenue for NBC, as well as a good way to reach viewers who might not otherwise pay. Persisting with cable-only subscriptions for Olympics viewing is highly retro, and will only become more so.

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