(J. H.)
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Root Sports Pittsburgh is one of several regional sports networks owned by DirecTV.
DirecTV currently operates a handful of regional sports networks under the Root Sports banner, including Root Sports Southwest, which it and AT&T jointly bought on the cheap for $1,000 after the controversial forced bankruptcy of Comcast’s CSN Houston. AT&T does not own any other regional sports channels, but it does provide U-Verse pay-TV service to millions of subscribers.
The American Cable Association represents several hundred smaller cable operators around the country, and in a filing [PDF] with the FCC about the AT&T/DirecTV merger, the ACA raises concerns that the merged company would have “an increased incentive to charge greater fees” to pay-TV providers whose biggest — and sometimes only — competition is from satellite providers like AT&T.
The filing contends that DirecTV already has an incentive to charge high prices to competing cable operators for access to its Root Sports content. A merged company would have both DirecTV and AT&T’s interests to protect would, according to the ACA, be even more incentivized to price smaller competitors out of access to these channels.
Since all information about carriage fees — the price paid by a cable company to carry a channel — is confidential, the ACA says that it can’t even enter into arbitration with regional sports networks because there is not enough data to “effectively formulate and make a best and final offer at the outset of the arbitration.” However, DirecTV and AT&T, as both a pay-TV provider and broadcaster, would allegedly have the unfair upper hand of knowing exactly what these costs are.
The ACA also mentions the possible “threat of retaliation” from a merged AT&T/DirecTV in carriage negotiations to come.
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American Airlines and US Airways, Southwest Airlines and AirTran, Continental and United. These are just a few of the major mergers to hit the airline industry in the last several decades. While airlines contend that such combinations have created more streamlined processes for customers, some legislators are concerned that a shrinking airline industry has perpetrated potential anti-competitive behavior, leading to a request for a federal investigation.
In a letter [PDF] sent Wednesday to Assistant U.S. Attorney General William Baer, Sen. Richard Blumenthal urges the Justice Department to investigate possible collusion and anti-competitive actions in the airline industry that could result in higher airfares for consumers.
The senator from Connecticut cites a recent NY Times report which found that some airlines plan to cut back on the number of seats offered on certain routes in an attempt to boost profits.
The Times report was, in part, based on airline executives remarks at an industry conference regarding strategies to remain “disciplined” in their decisions to manage capacity across their flight routes.
“In light of the recent unprecedented level of consolidation in the airline industry, this public display of strategic coordination is highly troubling,” Blumenthal stated in his letter.
Two weeks ago, we told you that Delta Air Lines and United Airlines were considering cutting back on passenger capacity in the fall.
Blumenthal called the “capacity discipline” approach a “strategic attempt to coordinate behavior – specifically designed to encourage Wall Street to punish smaller rival airlines that have announced plans to expand capacity and cut prices.”
“Consumers are paying sky-high fares and are trapped in an uncompetitive market with a history of collusive behavior,” he states.
In addition to referencing alleged collusion in his letter, Blumenthal pointed to the DOJ’s own investigation into and eventual anti-trust lawsuit [PDF] against the merger of American and US Airways as evidence of the dangers of a consolidated market.
While the merger between the two companies eventually went through, Blumenthal says the issues found beforehand are still an issue.
“DOJ’s original complaint painted a stark picture of an extremely consolidated market, in which a few firms wield enormous market power to the detriment of consumers and competition – and in which high-level executives believe there is an unmistakable link between fluctuations in capacity and fares hikes,” he states. “The Justice Department also correctly predicted that this kind of behavior would continue should the merger be allowed to proceed – as it ultimately was.”
According to Blumenthal the coordination has become easier as the number of major airlines dwindled and their business models converged.
Citing Unprecedented Consolidation within Airline Industry, Blumenthal Urges DOJ to Investigate Potential Anti-Competitive, Anti-Consumer Behavior and Misuse of Market Power [Sen. Richard Blumenthal]
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How long does it take to scoop up $7,000 worth of merchandise from a Sunglass Hut store while employees aren’t looking? According to this surveillance video released by the police in San Francisco, about just over a minute. Two suspects working together were in and out of the store in that amount of time, slipping pricey merchandise into their tote bags and then zipping out the door before employees could stop them.
The theft happened about a month ago, and police released the video in an effort to find the two women. This was clearly a well-planned operation: they planned their entrance for a moment when the cashier was helping another customer and distracted, and they knew exactly which items they were looking for and where they were located.
If you do happen to know anything about this incident, call the anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444.
Video: S.F. shoplifters allegedly clean out a Sunglass Hut [San Francisco Chronicle]
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The city’s Department of Information Technology and Communications (DoITT) this week announced the results of an audit they conducted of Verizon’s FiOS implementation, and the news is not good.
In 2008, the telecom giant agreed to extend FiOS to any household that wanted it, across all five boroughs, by June 30, 2014. But with that deadline nearly a year gone, that goal is far from met — even though Verizon announced it had met its obligation and completed its build in November of last year.
“Through a thorough and comprehensive audit, we have determined that Verizon substantially failed to meet its commitment to the people of New York City,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “Broadband is a key component of this Administration’s fight to create opportunity and sustainable economic development in every corner of the five boroughs. As I’ve said time and again, Verizon must deliver on its obligation to the City of New York and we will hold them accountable.”
New Yorkers have been complaining for years that Verizon isn’t getting FiOS to them, and the data from the audit bears that out. Among the major issues the city’s auditors found:
The approximate FiOS footprint in four of NYC’s 5 boroughs, as of June 30, 2014 (via the Broadband Map). Click to expand.
The report (PDF) explains that Verizon had the original deadline in their contract extended, due to some of the predictable delays (like infrastructure challenges) and the unpredictable ones (like Hurricane Sandy) that slowed down the build. But after that, it got a little hazy.
“As 2014 progressed,” the report says, “and Verizon’s build-out approached 100 percent, DoITT began to receive anecdotal evidence, largely in the form of consumer complaints, suggesting that Verizon was simultaneously taking credit for ‘passing’ households and declining to accept orders for non-standard service installations from those households.”
In November, 2014 Verizon told the city they had “passed” all residential households in the city, meaning they could — and would be obligated to — accept orders for service from all residential buildings in the city. But complaints kept mounting, to the point where the city developed concerns “that these anecdotes did not reflect occasional irregularities, but possibly broader failures by Verizon to fulfill the obligations it undertook in the 2008 franchise agreement.”
And so, the formal audit.
However, even the audit took longer than it needed to, the report says, due to Verizon’s “persistent intransigence and delay — following Verizon’s pattern in previous audits.” Verizon failed repeatedly to supply data that the city’s auditors requested and denied them access to Verizon systems, the report claims.
In their response report to the city, Verizon claims that auditors present a “distorted view” of their performance, ignoring the “truly significant accomplishments” Verizon has achieved so far. The company, as one would expect, pushes back hard on the findings, claiming that they have in fact met their goals and are perfectly cooperative.
“Aside from its erroneous conclusions and procedural flaws,” Verizon writes, “the Report’s lack of balance and its clear agenda is also disturbing.”
Verizon seems to miss the point of an audit intended to delve into the truth of repeated customer complaints, continuing, “One would expect a performance review to include an assessment of both the positives and the (perceived) negatives of Verizon’s performance. In start contrast, however, the Report makes no positive findings, despite the fact that Verizon’s submissions during the review provided DoITT with several opportunities to do so.”
Many New York City officials found Verizon’s response and performance unsatisfactory.
“We would have universal broadband in New York City, if only Verizon had kept its promise to provide universal fiber to every home, as was required by the 2008 franchise agreement. Countless New Yorkers have tried to get fiber in their homes only to be told it was ‘unavailable,’ and I know because I am one of them,” said Council Member Ben Kallos.
Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer echoed the sentiment, saying, “Verizon promised to provide a new option in a market with too little competition, but for too many New Yorkers that promise has proved empty so far. While there is no question that rolling out fiber-optic service in New York City is a massive undertaking, Verizon must be open and honest about the availability of its services and must make good on its commitments.”
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(Janitors)
In an official statement posted last night, Samsung says that while it’s aware of the vulnerability of keyboard updates on Galaxy devices and that it takes all security threats very seriously, the likelihood of a bad actor making a successful attack and exploiting that vulnerability is low.
“This vulnerability, as noted by the researchers, requires a very specific set of conditions for a hacker to be able to exploit a device this way,” Samsung says. “This includes the user and the hacker physically being on the same unprotected network while downloading a language update. Also, on a KNOX-protected device there are additional capabilities in place such as real-time kernel protection to prevent a malicious attack from being effective.”
The company adds that there haven’t been any reports thus far of Galaxy devices being compromised through the keyboard updates, as of June 15. But because a real risk does exit, Samsung’s security policy update will be coming forthwith.
“In addition to the security policy update, we will continue to work with related parties such as SwiftKey to address potential risks going forward,” Samsung says.
Samsung advises users to make sure their devices automatically receive security policy updates, as it will be pushed to the user and require them to accept it.
To ensure your device receives the latest security updates, go to Settings > Lock Screen and Security > Other Security Settings > Security policy updates, and make sure the Automatic Updates option is activated. At the same screen, the user may also click “Check for updates” to manually retrieve any new security policy updates.
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(Marvel)
Amazon bought comics download platform comiXology last year, which opened up the Marvel library to users, but customers had to first download the comiXology app to get them.
This new deal means readers can get anything from Ant Man to Spider-Man straight from the Amazon store instead, with no separate app required. Issues will be available on the Kindle Store the same day as they hit store shelves and comiXology, though the platform will continue to run its app on both iOS and Android Devices as well as the Marvel Digital Comic Shop.
“Amazon, comiXology and Marvel share a passion for expanding the audience for comic books and graphic novels worldwide,” said David Naggar, Vice President, Amazon Kindle in the press release. “With the ever-increasing number of devices in consumers’ hands and the growing popularity of Marvel’s extensive catalogue of familiar Super Heroes we see this as the perfect time to create a whole new generation of comic book readers.”
Although the idea of swiping through an e-reader to read a comic book might seem foreign to fans who are used to poring over back issues in the store and flipping through physical pages, Amazon has done pretty well with its digital comic service. The company says the comiXology app was both the number one grossing book app on iOS, and the highest grossing app in the Google Play Store’s comics category in 2015.
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