Netflix launched what it called a “radically new look” to its screens Wednesday that it said presents a “richer and more immersive” experience for viewing on the big screen. The new design shows multiple cinematic images for each title, a “snappy description” and more personalized detail on why Netflix suggests particular content for a user, it said. The new design was scheduled to be delivered Wednesday by a new Netflix software platform that runs on set-top boxes, “recent model” smart TVs and Blu-ray players and game consoles, Netflix said. Devices supporting the new experience include PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Roku 3 and recent Smart TVs and Blu-ray players, said a news release. A Netflix spokesman told us any “newly bought Smart TV or Blu-ray player this holiday season will definitely have” the new look. Older devices “may get it, depending on the update cycles of the manufacturer,” he said. Consumers who “just bought” a late model TV or Blu-ray player have a good chance of getting the new experience, “but we can’t guarantee it,” the spokesman said. Additional devices, including other Roku boxes, will be added at a later date, Netflix said. It called the new design “the biggest change to the Netflix experience on televisions in our history, making it even easier” to find content to watch.
Many unknowns still exist for the Los Angeles City Council plan to bring free Wi-Fi to the city through a request for proposal (RFP) process, said Steve Reneker, the city’s Information Technology Agency general manager, on a Tuesday Gigabit Nation podcast. The council last week unanimously passed Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield’s proposal to bring free citywide wireless broadband to Los Angeles (http://bit.ly/HFhaOZ). The network will be built on a fiber-to-the home infrastructure with basic and premium packages, said Reneker. While cities such as Chattanooga and Kansas City have successfully developed their own gigabit networks, Los Angeles would be the largest city -- about 3.8 million people -- to complete this kind of project if everything goes according to plan, said Reneker. The city’s RFP will ask for the vendor, or coalition of vendors, to charge no connection fees, reach all homes, businesses and high-rises, and to allow the users to opt in to the network at any time, said Reneker. “We have a huge economic development sector with small- and medium-size tech companies, and they should be able to get affordable broadband,” he said. The network will take three to five years to complete, he said. The city will provide incentives to the vendors such as expediting right of way and a “guaranteed revenue stream for 10 years,” said Reneker. The city hopes to find a vendor that can also support its cloud data centers and VoIP functions within its network, he said. The city wants to start installing conduit next year when a $3 billion street repair program begins, said Reneker. “We will require all parties to have inspectors for rights of way issues,” he said. The city intends for the network to be open access, but it could change once the vendor is selected, said Reneker. The take rate needs to be able to meet the investments of the vendor, said Reneker. “Most carriers are going to build their networks where the revenues can be made to meet the bottom line unless you have a project like ours where the network needs to offer service to everyone,” he said.
Verizon Digital Media Services acquired upLynk, a technology and TV cloud company, to expand its video streaming capabilities, said Verizon in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1fC0gfA). Through a single adaptive video format across all devices, upLynk simplifies encoding, storage, playback, ad insertion and analytics to eliminate complexity and enable more “agile video workflows,” said the company.
The FCC should minimize the impacts of the post-incentive auction repacking on translators and LPTV stations in rural areas, said a letter signed by a bipartisan group of 23 senators released Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1a5h2lR). Led by Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the group asked FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to preserve over-the-air TV in rural areas and consider “the unique challenges” of updating LPTV and translators after the auction. “Countless farmers and ranchers, small businesses and families living in remote areas rely on receiving over-the-air television through translators and low power televisions stations,” said the letter. NAB endorsed the senators’ points in a news release (http://bit.ly/1cVf5fq) Wednesday. “Without translators and low power television stations, many Americans would be unable to receive the latest news and emergency information, which is critical to their well-being,” said NAB in the release.
Court decisions upholding Aereo’s ability to stream copyrighted content “cannot be squared with the language, structure, and legislative intent of the Copyright Act,” said the NFL and Major League Baseball in an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday in support of broadcasters’ cert petition against Aereo. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision denying a preliminary injunction against Aereo was a “significant legal shift” that should occur “at the direction of Congress, not a split panel of the 2nd Circuit,” said the leagues. Though some observers have said the multiple ongoing lawsuits involving Aereo and competitor FilmOn X mean it’s unlikely the Supreme Court would pick up the case anytime soon, the amicus brief made the opposite argument. The multiple pending cases illustrate that the “legal, practical, and international implications of the decision” are “exceedingly pressing and important,” said the leagues, urging the court to take the case. “The Copyright Act reflects Congress’ judgment that it is inequitable for commercial broadcast retransmission services to profit from selling access to copyrighted programming without compensating those who create that programming at great expense, effort, and risk,” said the brief.
WikiLeaks released what it said was the previously undisclosed Intellectual Property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact being negotiated by the U.S. and 11 other nations. It obtained the 95-page document after the Aug. 26-30 TPP summit in Brunei, said WikiLeaks in a Wednesday news release (http://bit.ly/HRoF50). The leak comes as chief TPP negotiators prepare to meet in Salt Lake City Nov. 19-24. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative refused to comment on the authenticity of the material “purportedly leaked from a negotiation,” said a USTR spokeswoman. The IP negotiations remain underway and a final text has not been agreed upon, she said. The Obama administration has targeted year’s end to conclude negotiations (CD Oct 31 p13). The leaked text unveils significant disagreement among the 12 nations, said a number of advocacy groups in news releases, including WikiLeaks. “This leak is the first of a complete chapter revealing all countries’ positions. There are more than 100 unresolved issues in the TPP Intellectual Property chapter,” said Public Citizen (http://bit.ly/1a5bHuT). “Even the wording of many footnotes is in dispute; one footnote negotiators agree on suggests they keep working out their differences over the wording of the other footnotes. The other 28 draft TPP chapters remain shrouded in secrecy.” The IP chapter shows the U.S. administration is pushing stringent IP language that promotes big business over consumer access to products and information, said WikiLeaks, saying only primary negotiators and big business previously had viewing privileges for the document. “Members of the US Congress are only able to view selected portions of treaty-related documents in highly restrictive conditions and under strict supervision,” said WikiLeaks. “It has been previously revealed that only three individuals in each TPP nation have access to the full text of the agreement, while 600 ’trade advisers’ -- lobbyists guarding the interests of large US corporations such as Chevron, Halliburton, Monsanto and Walmart -- are granted privileged access to crucial sections of the treaty text.” The TPP IP chapter, which includes 296 footnotes and 941 brackets -- indicating provisions still under debate -- proposes patent and IP rights language that would enable participant governments and private entities to bring legal action that could award dispute winners “huge” sums, said Knowledge Ecology International (http://bit.ly/1aENN5i).
The Advanced Television Systems Committee released an implementation guide (http://bit.ly/17pKvTo) for TV stations to broadcast mobile emergency alert system (M-EAS) messages along with their mobile DTV offerings, said an ATSC news release Wednesday. The new handbook provides instructions on how stations can update broadcast equipment and “demonstrate the new functionality to local emergency management agencies,” said the release. M-EAS “uses Mobile Digital TV to reach viewers with video, text, by sound, and with informative maps, graphics, and instructions,” the release said. The technology generates a banner alert that is displayed by individual devices, and can include supplemental information “as HTML pages, maps and images, and video files,” said the release. Adding M-EAS to a station “can be accomplished at very modest cost,” said ATSC M-EAS Implementation Team Chairman Jay Adrick. The technology doesn’t requires additional radio frequency, uses the Common Alerting Protocol used by government agencies, and also “runs in the background, allowing regular TV programming to continue,” he said.
Comcast renewed and expanded its capacity agreement with SES. The agreement involves nearly 650 MHz of C-band capacity “to deliver a broad range of content management and delivery solutions to media companies across North America,” SES said in a press release (http://bit.ly/17TS8aN). Under the deal, Comcast will continue to use 16 transponders on the AMC-18 satellite, SES said. Comcast also will continue using one transponder on AMC-1, and it contracted to use an additional transponder on that satellite, SES said. The capacity allows Comcast to provide cable programmers, multiple system operators and independent cable operators with access “to linear and on-demand content distribution solutions,” it said.
A petition to the White House filed Wednesday attempts to restart the stalled debate over reforming the 27-year-old Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Digital 4th, an industry and advocacy group coalition, came together in March to push Congress to pass an ECPA modernization bill proposed by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Mike Lee, R-Utah (CD March 20 p10). The bill sought to protect electronic communications collected and maintained by third-party service providers (http://1.usa.gov/WBxwf7), and never made it out of committee. While Congress and the public may have gotten distracted by leaked reports about the National Security Agency’s surveillance work, ECPA also means “the IRS and hundreds of other agencies can read our communications without a warrant,” said the petition. “We call on the Obama Administration to support ECPA reform and to reject any special rules that would force online service providers to disclose our email without a warrant."
The National Exchange Carrier Association submitted the “latest view” of USF data for the “2011-x and 2012-x” periods, as requested by FCC staff in connection with analyses related to recently adopted USF reforms, NECA said in a filing Wednesday (http://bit.ly/HMTdEO). The data include all changes reported during the past three months, such as corrections for errors and omissions, and “average schedule company” to “cost company” conversions.