Sometimes I can't decide if I'm paranoid or if they're really out to get me. Then I run across this line from Ted Turner:
Today, the only way for media companies to survive is to own everything up and down the media chain--from broadcast and cable networks to the sitcoms, movies, and news broadcasts you see on those stations; to the production studios that make them; to the cable, satellite, and broadcast systems that bring the programs to your television set; to the Web sites you visit to read about those programs; to the way you log on to the Internet to view those pages. Big media today wants to own the faucet, pipeline, water, and the reservoir. The rain clouds come next.Ted's talking about the collapse of ownership restrictions on broadcast media. The agency charged with stewardship of the public interest against the (natural) self-interest of Big Content, the FCC, has become the instrument through which Big Content has increased their control over the media landscape. With the Broadcast Flag the FCC has extended their aggressive advocacy of Big Content's agenda to technology. That brings me back to yesterday's TiVo post.
Big Content has found the center of gravity for policy that protects their business models in the FCC. As Big Content has collapsed the notion of media company into a single entity, they've helped to consolidate regulation into a single non-representative bureaucracy.
The MPAA, having made an example to TiVo of ReplayTV, now says that Flag-friendly DRM is not enough. Who is the MPAA? Paramount (Viacom), Disney, Universal (GE), 20th Century Fox (News Corp), et al. Why is the National Association of Broadcasters silent on this? Surely they can see ways to turn TiVo's plans into high-value, targeted advertising packages? Well, who is the NAB? CBS (Viacom), ABC (Disney), NBC (GE), Fox (News Corp), et al.
Big Content is afraid of being destroyed by technology-enabled innovation. They're trying hard to destroy it first.
Now, here's some smart people talking about the TiVo thing:
