On Site at CEA Washington Forum

Other people may think the CTIA show is the sexiest place to be right now, but they don’t know what they’re missing at the CEA Washington Forum. Senator Ron Wyden is on stage starting the day out by talking about protectionism vs. innovation. He’s already referenced the Internet tax debate and net neutrality. Wow. More … Read more

TiVo v Echostar: Movement in Georgia

One stockholder’s take…

In the ongoing legal maneuvering over the disclosure of documents relating to the Merchant & Gould “Opinion Letter” (of non-infringement), Judge William Duffey of the U.S. Circuit Court in northern Georgia issued the following order on 3/22:

ORDER DIRECTING that Echostar and Homer Knearl SHOW CAUSE by 3/30/07, why the following documents should not be produced: MG PRIV 16, 27, 32-35, 37, 55, 68, 69, 72, 73, 75, 85, 88, 95, 105, 177, 179, 180, 271, 274, 276, 287, 291, and 305. Echostar or Knearl must state in detail for each document the privilege asserted, and the grounds for that privilege, including a description of the identity and role of each author, recipient, cc recipient, or bcc recipient of the document. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if any portion of the above documents was submitted to the Court in redacted form, unredacted copies be provided for in camera review by 3/30/07. These documents shall be marked in such a way as to allow the Court to discern easily which portions were previously redacted. Signed by Judge William S. Duffey Jr. on 3/22/07. (kt) (Entered: 03/22/2007)

The clarified rules of discovery issued by a U.S. Court of Appeals last year for this situation require documents to be produced to TiVo only if they were communicated by the law firm to the client (i.e., Echostar), or if they reference a communication with the client.

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Apple TV in its Native Environment

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Sure you can see Apple TV “unboxing” photos all over the place. But where else can you find photos of Apple TV in its native environment, i.e. the Apple Store at the local mall? (King of Prussia Mall in this case)

I must admit to some skepticism about Apple TV, but the Apple fanaticism is real, and many analysts have positive things to say. Ross Rubin compares and contrasts Apple TV (pretty favorably) against TiVo in his recent Engadget column. Steve Wildstrom on the other hand is a bit more ambiguous on Apple TV’s future. Then of course there’s Dave Z.’s opinion…

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The RIAA – No More Cuddly Puppies

Brian Biggs has an “article” up over on BBspot on the RIAA’s new mission statement and innovative communications strategies. Instead of fostering a supportive climate, Brian suggests the RIAA is codifying a different, less cuddly approach: Our mission is to maximize hatred for the music industry by using creative legal and innovative technological methods which … Read more

Network DVR Killed (In Court)

10 months after heading to court, Cablevision’s network DVR concept has been killed. No surprise here, though we may see follow-on court action and/or a tweaking of their proposed implementation… By contrast, Time Warner has successfully launched a head end-based service (Start Over) by sharing revenue with the networks. Multichannel News writes: The U.S. District … Read more

Gamefly Implements FastReturn Strategy

For the last few months, I’ve found myself buying more video games then I normally do. Usually I might buy a game once every three months and then play it intermittenly until I get sick of it and move on. Recently though, I’ve found myself wanting to try out more games and have been spending more time playing my Xbox then normal. This was probably caused in part, by my having to live without my Xbox 360 for a month, while Microsoft repaired my console. Once I got it back, I was ready to play video games with a vengence and have spent way too much money over the past few months, buying new games for my console.

At first I figured the best way to try out a bunch of new games would be to reactivate my Gamefly account, but every time I went to their site, I just couldn’t hit the submit button to actually sign up. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to join, but rather that every time I went to the site, I froze up when I was faced with the decision over whether I wanted ten days free or a discounted first month. This sounds really stupid because the difference in price was only a few dollars, but having had a negative experience with Gamefly in the past, I liked the idea of trying to see if they’ve improved and being able to quit without a hassle, in case they haven’t. At the same time, before signing up, I was about 75% certain that I’d be a member for at least the first month, so the part of me that loves a good deal, didn’t want to give up the lower promotional rate. The positives and negatives of this trade off were so evenly balanced in my mind, that for the last three months, I’ve been spending way too much money buying video games when I could have been renting them from Gamefly instead.

I probably would have just kept buying games, but over the weekend I came across a story on Digg, that helped to motivate me to become a member again.

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Verizon FiOS Q&A

John Czwartacki, of Verizon’s Policy Blog, dropped us a line asking if the writers and readers of ZNF would like to participate in a FiOS Q&A session:

Next Friday, I’ll conduct and post a conversation with one of the behind the scenes brains here at Verizon. Our first victim candidate is Brian Whitton, executive director of access network design and integration for Verizon. Brian’s title is just a formality — he’s the guy who knows about speed, what it means for the end user, and the innovations we’re deploying right now that make our fiber optic broadband to homes the autobahn of the Internet. Anyway, here’s your chance to ask an expert about G-PON, MoCA, and how Verizon hopes to transform the customer experience with the fiber we’re placing all the way into people’s homes.

You can never have too many friends in the blogosphere (even if they might not have appreciated my last post), so of course we have questions…. hopefully you do too. If so, please drop them in our comment area or theirs.

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