Over the past twenty-four hours you have probably heard the news that some of the major networks, such as ABC, NBC, and CBS have blocked access from Google TV.  I don’t know if I should be surprised or not.

I’ve grown accustomed to them doing this sort of thing – Hulu (NBC and Fox) blocked Boxee, and didn’t even want your PC hooked to your TV.  But in recent months it seemed to be changing – Hulu is going on set-top boxes, TV Networks are making apps for things like the iPad.

Now in the past day they have tried to suddenly turn back the clock, by blocking the Google TV set-top box.  It seems to go against the tide they had been riding recently to a more open, freely available content future.  They saw this coming years ago as they watched the music industry struggle.  While they have not yet given up their DRM, as music had to, they were finding ways to (mostly) satisfy viewers by rolling out Hulu and placing content on their own web sites, and, as I said previously, even releasing apps and putting Hulu on real TV’s.

They saw bit torrent as their own personal Napster, and they were right to.  It was, and if they don’t figure this thing out soon then it still could be.  There’s no shortage of apps and directories available to even the most casual users to get all of their TV shows while cutting the providers out completely.  And this kind of move is the type that pushes people in that direction.  The music industry has shown that low prices and wide availability can work as a business model.  The TV industry seems bent on showing that low availability can’t work.

Maybe it’s the wide-open, PC-style approach that Google TV takes that is scaring them.  After all, they were never really afraid of a few geeks hooking PC’s to TV’s.  But, when the process gets vastly simplified by a device, then the game really begins to change.  And those high-profile, big-profit hostage negotiations like the one going on in New York between Fox and Cablevision lose their value.

The one thing they don’t seem do get, or maybe they get, but haven’t sensed the urgency of, is that they are running out of room quickly.  As the old saying goes, they are putting their finger in the hole in the dike, but they can’t hold back the flood much longer.  They need to figure out the revenue model for this new technology yesterday.  Blocking access to Google TV is already a flawed plan.  Anybody can go in and change the ID of the Chrome browser and get their access back.  It takes 30 seconds.  And early adopters are the kind of people who know how to do that.  These days knowledge is digital and once it’s out it’s not coming back.  The content producers and networks are running out of time and, even in that race, they are running in the wrong direction right now.

Nokia announced that its is developing a portable Internet device based on the open-source Linux operating system. Designed to take advantage of the wide distribution of accessible Wi-Fi networks, the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet features a widescreen display and an on-screen keyboard, a la a PDA on steroids. The device will also be able to connect to Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones as an alternative network connection source.

The portable computer includes built-in access to Internet radio, RSS (Real Simple Syndication) news reader, and a digital media player. Weighing in at about a half-pound, the device will be available to consumers this fall.

According to Nokia’s website, “The device runs on Linux based Nokia Internet Tablet 2005 software edition which includes widely deployed desktop Linux and Open Source technologies. The maemo development platform (www.maemo.org) will provide Open Source developers and innovation houses with the tools and opportunities to collaborate with Nokia on future devices and OS releases in the Internet Tablet category.”

Dave’s Opinion
This is a good foray for Nokia: designing a portable media device without being beholden to the restrictions and costs that traditional laptops face with Microsoft Windows. The Linux operating system is generally considered more stable and flexible than Windows, and with proper installation is equally secure, and some IT experts think, more secure than Microsoft’s operating system.

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet Press Release: http://press.nokia.com/PR/200505/995802_5.html

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Nokia 770 Internet Tablet Press Release

The Pew Internet & American Life Project reported this week that 36 million Americans, 27 percent of internet users, report having downloaded music or video files. Half of this group have skirted the traditional peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and commercial online distribution services (i.e. Napster, iTunes). This is a significant number of digital media users whose sharing of digital media is untraceable by the recording industry and copyright holders.

The report continues to say that recent lawsuits by the recording industry against both media distribution outlets (i.e. Napster) and individual file swappers have encouraged 48 percent of the downloading users’ to move toward informal networks and personal relationships as distribution alternatives. Digital music players, e-mail, and instant messaging (IM) services are popular media for the informal distribution of digital content. The Pew Internet & American Life report, Music and Video Downloading Moves Beyond P2P, estimates that 18 million Americans are sharing digital content through nontraditional media.

Nineteen percent of those surveyed (an estimated 7 million Americans) reported downloading content using a digital media player, an iPod or similar device. E-mail and IM were even more popular alternatives; a reported 28 percent (an estimated 10 million Americans) use e-mail and IM for distribution. Remaining nontraditional distribution channels comprise websites, including blogs.

About a third, 30 percent, of those surveyed reported stopping file sharing because of a fear of prosecution, following the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) purges. About half, 49 percent, of respondents judge that file-sharing networks should be held responsible for the illegal distribution of copyright-protected media that traverses the P2P networks.

I find it particularly interesting that half of the folk, and possibly more, based on my experience, place the legal responsibility for protecting copyrights on the P2P networks, and fail to take personal responsibility for their own actions. It is as if the P2P networks forced the individual downloaders to receive the illegally distributed content. Come on, other than yourselves, you are you trying to fool?

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Pew Internet & American Life Project

The City of Philadelphia has concluded negotiations with Verizon Communications, and will move forward with plans to develop a metropolitan Wi-Fi network, even though a new Pennsylvania law allows telecommunication carriers from blocking such projects.

The planned Wi-Fi network, which will offer low-cost Internet service to residents, is still scheduled to go online this summer. Pennsylvania House Bill 30, signed into law this week, allows incumbent carriers, such as Verizon, the right to block local governments from setting up paid Internet networks after January 1, 2006. The law allows existing services, such as Philadelphia’s, to continue, plus there’s a one-year grace period within which new governmental network services may be developed. Good news for residents is that the law does not restrict the future development of free-access networks, should a local government decide to foot the bill.

Dave’s Comments
I have been using Baltimore and Philadelphia’s metropolitan Wi-Fi networks as examples of government support for broad-access Internet services, in my university e-business classes. Philadelphia’s network plan is interesting because it encompasses the entire metropolitan area, and is specifically designed to serve those residents most likely to not have current broadband Internet access.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Pennsylvania House Bill 30