Google Broadband: One Giant Step For Google

By James Zipadelli

Google is planning on building and testing its own high-speed broadband networks in select U.S. cities, the company announced in its blog recently. The company has put out a request for information (RFI) until March 26 to see how many communities want to participate in this experiment. A Google spokesman says, “We will connect at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people, in one or more trial communities across the country.”

One city that is participating in Google’s experiment is Baltimore, Md. A team of technology and business leaders began working Feb. 22, and entrepreneur Dave Troy says Baltimore’s government and research institutions are also on board. “We hit the ground running,” Troy says. “We have world-class research institutions (the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University). One of the things Google listed is 3-D medical technology. This is something that Hopkins has done. We can do that right here.”

According to Troy, there were other reasons Google’s experiment benefits the city. For example, Baltimore’s proximity to Washington, D.C., makes it helpful if there is a question on regulations. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which President Obama signed Feb. 17, 2009, included the Broadband Initiatives, which has essentially the same goal: to “accelerate broadband deployment in unserved, underserved, and rural areas and to strategic institutions that are likely to create jobs or provide significant public benefits.” Troy says that Google’s experiment helps because it creates competition. “Not only is Google getting access to more people, but they are doing it by using an open access approach,” Troy says.

Asked for clarification, the Google spokesman says, “We will allow third parties to offer their own Internet access services, or other services, using our network. We believe this approach will maximize user choice as well as spur greater innovation and competition. Most providers in Europe and many places elsewhere in the world operate open access networks.”

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, which represents cable operators, is optimistic. “We look forward to learning more about Google’s broadband experiment in the handful of trial locations they are planning, says spokesman Brian Dietz. “The cable industry has invested $161 billion over the past 13 years to build a nationwide broadband infrastructure that is available to 92 percent of U.S. homes, and we will continue to invest billions more to continually improve the speed and performance of our networks and provide tens of millions of consumers with the best possible broadband experience.”

Not everyone is pleased with Google’s experiment, however. Scott Cleland, president of Precursor and chairman of NetCompetition.org, called Google’s announcement a “PR stunt.”

“This is classic Google,” Cleland says. “Everything is about them. When the nation is trying to move from a jog to a run, they’re wanting to take airplane rides.” Cleland says the timing of the announcement was poor because it coincided with the National Broadband Plan.

“They want a gigabit to the home, which is 50 times more than people have right now, and there aren’t any applications other than Google’s plan that takes advantage of that network,” Cleland says. “Google is the biggest bandwidth consumer in the world because YouTube broadcasts over the Internet and it’s 14 times bigger than any video broadcaster. Google is constantly crawling the trillion pages on the Internet.”

AT&T spokesperson Jenny Bridges was cautiously optimistic. “We commend (FCC) Chairman (Julius) Genachowski for his plan to set an ambitious goal for broadband deployment in America,” Bridges says. “But in setting a 100mb goal, the FCC surely recognizes the massive investment by the private sector that will be required. As the Commission’s own broadband team estimated, it would cost an additional $350 billion to bring 100mb service to every household in America. It is thus all the more important that the FCC resist calls for extreme forms of regulation that would cripple, if not destroy, the very investments needed to realize its goal.”

Verizon Wireless spokesman James Smith says, “The Internet ecosystem is dynamic and competitive, and it’s delivering great benefits to consumers. Google’s expansion of its networks to enter the access market is another new paragraph in this exciting story.” To learn more about Verizon’s network, VerizonFIOS, click here. VerizonFIOS serves 16 states including Maryland and Washington, D.C., according to the fact sheet.

Baltimore’s Troy says the benefits for the city from Google’s experiment are just beginning. “It will make Baltimore a world-class destination for technology entrepreneurs,” Troy says. “It also will keep people here that might go somewhere else. The combination of those two things makes it extremely compelling.”

TV Goes Live On Verizon Wireless

By Rebecca Henely

As the fourth generation of mobile communication networks looms on the horizon, Verizon Wireless hopes to bring faster, more reliable live TV to its products. To do this the company has enlisted the services of digital service provider MobiTV, which was a featured developer for Verizon Wireless at the International Consumer Electronics Showcase in early January.

“We are excited to be working with MobiTV as we dive even further into the applications world out there and expand what people can do on their phones,” says Debi Lewis, spokesperson for Verizon Wireless.

Lewis says Verizon Wireless hopes to start offering its 4G network in various U.S. markets later in 2010, and has many companies working on hardware and software for the new network, of which MobiTV is only one.

This will be the first time Verizon Wireless and MobiTV have worked together. MobiTV was part of a developer’s conference with Verizon last summer, and the partnership between the companies officially started at the International CES, Lewis says.

Jacquie Robison, senior director of consumer marketing and public relations at MobiTV, says MobiTV has previously worked with phone companies Sprint and AT&T, as well as numerous others, so this new initiative will not be exclusive. Nevertheless, MobiTV is excited about the partnership. “As a carrier Verizon has a fantastic record of service. They have a deep listing of phones for the consumer,” Robison says.

Lewis called MobiTV a great provider and packager of live TV on mobile devices, which is important to Verizon Wireless because as mobile devices move into the next generation, video has the potential to be delivered with faster download times and more efficiently. Cost will also be less. “A lot of the [technology] challenges we see in existing networks are starting to melt away,” Lewis says.

Robison says more consumers want live TV on their phones. “We know there’s a high demand for entertainment, news and politics,” she says.

As an example, Robison cites MobiTV’s work with other mobile services, in which the company recently delivered the broadcast of President Barack Obama’s 2010 State of the Union address from networks that aired the speech live to mobile devices. Minutes used during that time period went up by 1,544 percent. “That’s the sort of experience we’re looking to deliver to Verizon,” Robison says.

“There’s a demand for that kind of content,” Lewis says, “and the better experience we can provide on the phone, the more people are going to be inclined to participate.”

Robison says the current plan is to offer live television made for mobile devices and video on demand from more than 40 different channels for Verizon Wireless devices. There are no concrete plans for other applications for the devices, but Robison says both companies will be on the look out for opportunities based on user needs. She cites MobiTV’s recent work leveraging capabilities from most recent iPhone upgrades for consumers to make purchases within applications.

“There are a whole host of services that are available and are a part of the consideration set,” Robison says.

Regarding any capacity or bandwith issues, Lewis says there may be some “bumps in the road” as Verizon Wireless moves from 3G to 4G, but the company has moved from analog to digital to 3G and anticipates the move to the next generation will go well.

“[Verizon Wireless has] been in the business of building and maintaining wireless networks for a long time,” she says.

Rebecca Henely is a freelance writer and reporter based in New Jersey.

WatchNBuy.com to White-Label its Interactive Video Commerce Player

By: itvt.com

Interactive video commerce company, WatchNBuy.com, announced Wednesday that it is offering its interactive video player on a white-label basis to other Web site operators.

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DECE and Disney Race Toward Universal Video Standards

By Barbara Gengler

In the race to take the guesswork out of digital distribution of films, two advancements have been made public that will allow consumers to buy movies and other digital content once and play them almost anywhere on any type of device.

The advancements result from efforts by the Walt Disney Company and the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) consortium.

Disney, which at this time is the only major Hollywood studio not a part of DECE, rolled out a technology called KeyChest that would allow consumers to pay a single price for a movie or TV show and then access it from the Web, iPhone or on-demand cable services.

Disney is planning to deploy the technology before the end of 2010 as it is pretty much complete. Disney says KeyChest will neither be a Disney-only venture not will it be governed by Disney.

“As for partners, we continue to engage in discussion with a number of companies across various industries,” says Disney spokesman Eric Maehara.

According to Maehara, KeyChest does not compete with DECE as both technologies aim to allow people to watch the content they purchase on any device they own. KeyChest is not a competitor to DECE rather it can work with it.

“It is our understanding that DECE is developing what is commonly known as a format/ecosystem,” he says. “KeyChest is not a format nor an ecosystem. It is an interoperability solution that will empower formats and ecosystems to work together.”

The aim of KeyChest is to create widespread adoption of standards for digital media based on existing Digital Rights Management (DRM).

DECE, on the other hand, is a coalition with support from various industries involved in digital entertainment. The system will provide a new way for consumers to share their purchased content on a number of devices in the home or by streaming them over the Internet to other gear such as cell phones or laptops.

Twenty-one companies joined DECE in 2009 including Adobe, Cox Communications, Motorola, Netflix, Nokia and Tesco bringing the total to 48. Philips Electronics, Sony, Hewlett Packard and Cisco Systems are among the group’s founding members.

Surprisingly missing from the group is Apple, a key player in the rapidly growing world of digital distribution, although it is still possible the company may one day join.

“DECE has taken a significant first step toward creating an open market that will shift the digital distribution model and make ‘Buy Once, Play Anywhere’ a reality for consumers,” says Mitch Singer, president of DECE. “Our ultimate goal is to take the guesswork out of buying, downloading and playing digital entertainment.”

The cross-industry initiative revealed an agreement on a Common File Format, an open specification for digital entertainment, which will be released in the first half of 2010; approval of five DRM solutions that will be DECE-compatible and a cloud-based authentication service called Digital Rights Locker that allows consumers rights access to their digital entertainment.

The five DRM solutions, which will ensure content can be played back by streaming or downloading on a variety of services and devices, include Adobe Flash Access, CMLA-OMA V2, the Marlin DRM Open Standard, Microsoft PlayReady and Widevine.

DECE has also selected Neustar to provide a digital rights locker that will authenticate rights to view content from multiple services, with multiple devices and manage content and registration of devices. DECE says devices that are DECE-compatible may be available to consumers in 2011.

While there are still challenges ahead, the pace is expected to step up significantly and both services are expected to go live before the end of the year.

Barbara Gengler more than a decade experience covering the Silicon Valley hi-tech market before moving to the East Coast. She previously worked for trade publications and for print and online magazines.

Future of TV: Microsoft’s Ballmer Sees Content Everywhere

By: adage.com

LAS VEGAS (AdAge.com) — In the not-too-distant future, at least the one Microsoft subscribes to, TV consumption will be more portable than ever before as consumers see fewer and fewer differences between the screens belonging to their TV, the ones on their laptops and the ones on their mobile devices.

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How to Avoid a Copyright Suit: There’s a Content ID For That

By Moria Byrne

On the heels of the Viacom copyright lawsuit, YouTube and other online social media channels are working at cyber speed to track video content.

Content licensing and monitoring is the newest application addition to video and audio channels. Recently, YouTube launched free VideoID services to track and monitor where videos are played.

In the past, YouTube users were limited to tracking the number of viewers (through YouTube) and viewer demographics through Insight as well as determining content as public or private. Now, users have three options: block, track or monetize. Google built a tool for YouTube to search and identify pirated video content.

While block will simply prevent the video from being viewed by the public, tracking allows both public viewing and issues reports to the rights owner about the number of views per video. Monetized videos will feature ads alongside videos. Users can aim videos for certain regions and block videos for others. “The hard part is figuring out what to do with the video once we’ve identified a rights holder’s content in it,” says Aaron Zamost, Google Corporate Communications.

YouTube coordinated content management and handling piracy claims. Once an illegal video posting is identified, YouTube issues a piracy claim to the accused website and requests the removal of the illegally copied content.

Although the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 gives video artists and copyright holders the right to block users access to online content copied illegally from the copyright holder, a statute on video and social media isn’t covered in the current bill. Thus far, individual copyright battles such as the court case betweenYouTube/Google and Viacom have moved social media channels to act: licensing and tracking content.

One Canadian content licensing and management company, MAGIX, uses YouTube for video services. “Of course, protection is a concern of ours, as a software developer we have felt the sting of online piracy,” says Sven Kardelke, video product manager. “If YouTube starts doing video finger printing, we are generally fine with it, as long as it solely serves copyright protection.”

Tracking and licensing businesses will be the winners in the video content debacle: more contracts and social media channels will join to avoid lengthy copyright suits. Over the past few years, many large movie, television and video corporations are choosing to launch their marketing and distribution through a copyright management and licensing businesses instead of social media channels alone.

Vobile is one of the top licensing and content management services in online video. The advantage of using Vobile and other paid services is full control and tracking of content online, including content played on live, streaming and on-demand sites. While YouTube tracks and enables users to monetize content,Vobile also manages compliance agreements with partners; monitors all major video sharing sites worldwide; follows up on compliance infringement notices; enforces workflow for better content management; and provides a secure metadata archival center. Vobile’s high-profile users include: 56.com, YuMe, an ad agency and many movie companies.

The ideal situation would be if all video social media channels worked together to build one centralized metadata center. “We’d love to see YouTube and others enhance their support for CC [Creative Commons] licensing and metadata that enhances sharing,” says Mike Linksvayer, a representative of Creative Commons, an online content licensing company.

“Metadata is interesting because while it can be used to facilitate finding infringing content, it can also be used to enhance the experience around CC-licensed content, eg., a search engine that finds video for reuse; or helping a creator of CC-licensed video to discover where their content has been reused, roughly analogous to trackback for video,” Linksvayer says.

SoundExchange, a nonprofit for online music licensing mandated by the U.S. government to track online music, plays the role of metadata collector in the music industry. “We face many of the same challenges YouTube faces because of the industry wide lack of data or any central registry,” says Laura Williams, representative of the Communications, New Media & External Affairs Department of SoundExchange. “And precisely because we know how hard it is, we applaud the steps they’ve [YouTube has] taken to help owners protect their rights and property.”

Currently, MusicBrainz is one of a few organizations working to collect music metadata, the other is archive.org. MusicBrainz is adding metadata through a wiki format. It’s user-generated and user-moderated metadata as opposed to metadata that would be embedded by a user label in the digital coding of a release,” Williams says. “This [label-generated metadata] would be a much more effective way for this [compiling metadata of music releases] to work.”

Yet, progress is being made slowly. A partnership between Vobile and Harmonic marked a major advancement in video content tracking in June 2009. Vobile combined its VideoDNA fingerprinting technology with Harmonic’s Rhozet Carbon Coder, a transcoding system enabling Carbon Coder users to automatically create VideoDNA fingerprints for video content. This enables users to monitor, protect and monetize content in a more effective way.

Also, various companies are using metadata or content analysis to find infringing content as well as to build tools around Creative Commons-licensed content, CC’s Linksvayer says.

There are many content licensing and management companies using tracking systems such as: Attributor, PicScout, FreeWheel, Auditude, BayTSP and Audible Magic.

Attributor, a registry and management company for text and video digital content, tracks content and enforces copyright policy on pirates.

The advantage of Attributor is that a company’s written, audio and video can be tracked all by one company. Attributor uses Insight to monitor social media. Insight has received mixed reviews as a strong social media tracking system. Google Analytics is still a much stronger tracking tool, experts say.

Yet, Attributor, a company serving a variety of syndicated publications and books, movie, television and radio companies, serves high-profile clients such as AP, Wiley Publishing and Turner.

PicScout is a license and management company for photographs and illustrations. The company uses fingerprinting technology to index images, maintain a metadata registry and connect users with buyers and their license managers. High-profile clients include: GettyImages, CORBIS and Stock Artist Alliance.

Attributor and PicScout are mercenary services as are FreeWheel and Auditude. FreeWheel manages accounts for notable companies: CBS, Veoh, Joost, Blip.tv and sling and Auditude manages accounts for MySpace, MTV and Warner Bros.

Are Justin.tv, Blip.tv, and YouTube the only social media channels tracking advanced video content ids? Also, as most companies charge for services, does this mean YouTube will quickly create a monopoly on video tracking?

As a recognized leader in search management, Twitter might have an opportunity to gain back the confidence of the public through tracking video content. Twittomatic is a free microblog service that tracks video content. This service is a strong alternative for small companies unwilling to spend money on a tracking service. Only time will tell who will lead the content tracking race.

Moria Byrne is a freelance journalist and editor. Her work has been featured in: Baltimore Business Journal, Maryland Daily Record, The Jewish Times and The Narragansett Times.

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