AP R I L 2 0 1 0 Viacom and Hulu Split As of early March, Viacom pulled its programming off Hulu, the Web-based streaming video site owned by NBC and Disney. The split cost Hulu such programs as The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, as well as other Comedy Central shows. The decision came as a result of Viacom’s inability to reach a deal with Hulu on a fair license fee. Though the divide is said to be amicable, it could prove to be a great loss to Hulu, which ranks The Daily Show as its third top program. In lieu of Hulu, Comedy Central will now stream its content on the shows’ official branded sites such as TheDailyShow.com and ColbertNation.com. Though fans of the Comedy Central programs may be angered by their removal from the site, they might be mollified to hear of speculation from analysts that Hulu is unprofitable. Content owners split ad revenue with the site, typically receiving 50 to 70 percent. Though Hulu gets more than 44 million visitors a month, the ad sales staff is reportedly having a hard time monetizing its burgeoning numbers. Venezuela’s Opposition To TV Censorship Aban on six TV stations in Venezuela provoked widespread student protests throughout Caracas in January. Marchers from four universities took to the streets following the announcement that cable companies were dropping the stations in compliance with a government order. Demonstrators asserted that the ban reflected an effort by the country’s president, Hugo Chávez, to silence political opposition, particularly the vocal critics on Radio Caracas Television (RCTV). The increasingly unpopular dictator appears to be concerned that he might be ousted in the upcoming September 2010 election. The Venezuelan government issued statements claiming that the reason behind the ban was that stations had broken telecommunications laws. The regulations purportedly violated by RCTV and other channels mandate that networks classified as “national media outlets” must air Chávez’s speeches and other government announcements. Free press advocates have declared that the measures enable government propaganda, and are especially unfair with worldwide criticism. Particularly divisive is a provision under discussion that would allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to secretly monitor and report users transferring unusually large chunks of data. In turn, entertainment companies would be able to take legal action. The response to ACTA has been particularly negative in Europe and the U.K., where ISPs are concerned that its regulations could lead to criminal sanctions for illegal downloaders, rather than the civil suits of the past. European privacy watchdogs put out an official warning about the agreement, cautioning against regulations that are too intrusive on privacy and data protection. Additionally, members of Parliament in the U.K. have demanded that the government release details of the negotiations to the House of Commons. U.S. Studios And Piracy War The Hollywood Studios have teamed up with governments in the E.U., U.K., Mexico, Korea and Japan to crack down on Internet piracy. A controversial new copyright treaty, called The AntiCounterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), is currently in the works, and will purportedly introduce tough new measures to combat illegal downloading, file-sharing and secret monitoring. As a result of the treaty, the details of which remained confidential as of press time, pirates of film, music and games will be subject to harsh fines and, if warranted, possible prison sentences. The impending treaty has been met the northeastern U.S., and U.K.-based Virgin Media, but the “Premiere” will only be distributed by RCN this year. In other TiVo news, the company recently won a federal court ruling over EchoStar’s Dish Network. The case, which was decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of Texas, concerned patent infringement by EchoStar’s digital video recorders. TiVo stands to collect more than $300 million in damages from EchoStar. (Continued on Page 8) (Continued from Page 4) V I D E O • A G E 6
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