By Alex Plough November 14, 2014
Protest at the White House in favor of net neutrality ©Joseph Gruber
Obama Backs Net Neutrality
US President Barack Obama weighed in on the “net neutrality” debate this week by publicly recommending that broadband Internet should be treated as a public utility by regulators.
His stance puts pressure on the independent Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is currently deciding whether to allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to cut deals with content companies such as Netflix for “fast lane” download speeds.
The acrimonious debate has been characterized as a battle for the very soul of the Internet by activists. They fear that cable companies will slow traffic to sites that refuse to pay them, acting as a form of censorship that is contrary to the egalitarian ideal that all information is created equal.
For a more practical analogy, Neil Irwin of the New York Times Upshot poses the deceptively simple question, “Is access to the Internet more like access to electricity, or more like cable television service?”
© julochka
Hachette and Amazon Strike a Deal
While the net neutrality debate looks like it will rumble on, the legal fight between the book publisher Hachette and the e-book retailer Amazon has finally come to an end.
The two firms reached an agreement under which Amazon will sell the French publisher’s wares, but Hachette will have greater control over the pricing of its e-books. Both sides are publicly saying they are happy with the deal.
Earlier this year the two firms started haggling over the discounted prices Amazon was charging for Hachette’s book. The world’s largest retailer responded by blocking pre-orders on certain Hachette titles during discussions, a move that was roundly criticized by authors.
Critics of Amazon have heralded the deal as a victory for publishers and a stain on the retailer’s public relations record.
“It showed a little bit of Amazon’s weakness,” said Sarah Kahn, an analyst at IBISWorld. “It definitely shows the large publishers that they can have some impact, even if the smaller ones can’t publicly battle Amazon.
Music Doesn’t Want to be Free
This week saw another group of ‘old guard’ media companies fighting back against the stubborn notion that information—in this case, music—wants to be free.
On Wednesday, YouTube revealed new details about its upcoming music subscription service, YouTube Music Key. After a six-month period of free access, offered by invitation only, users will have to pay between $7.99 and $9.99 per month to watch unlimited music video, free from advertisements.
That’s just the beginning of the end of free music online. The Wall Street Journal predicts that record labels will get more aggressive in the next round of licensing negotiations with music streaming services like Spotify.
Squawk Watch
News anchors on CNBC’s popular “Squawk Box” program watched in horror last week as their fellow presenter Joe Kernen repeatedly struggled to believe that Ireland used the Euro as its currency.
During an interview with Martin Shanahan of Ireland’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA), Kernen revealed a less than complete grasp of recent Irish history (for example: it has been independent from the U.K. since 1922).
Quick-witted Irish officials responded to the gaffe by suggesting Kernen sign up for a spot on its Irish Executive Mentoring Program, an educational program for foreigners with an interest in Irish business.
Visualizing Industries
Finally the data visualization of the week comes from Bloomberg’s ‘Industry Market Leaders’ section. Updated daily, this simple interactive chart lets users quickly find the companies that dominate each industry. It’s a great resource for journalists writing about a particular industry or company.
