The Net-Neutrality battle heats up with online video

(Post by Edwardo Sackey, Andrew Lei, Liza Gutina,Emmanuel Badoo)

There is a battle brewing between Comcast Corp and Level 3 Communications. This spat arose because of Comcast's demands that Level 3 Communications pay exorbitant fees to deliver Netflix content to Comcast subscribers. Below is a snippet from a Bloomberg article on Dec 3^rd

“….Level 3 Communications Inc., accusing Comcast Corp. of setting up a “toll booth” for Web traffic, said the cable carrier is trying to protect its TV business by charging Level 3 for delivering video to its customers.

“Online distribution of movies, TV shows and other content threatens Comcast’s traditional ‘closed’ video distribution model,” the company said. Broomfield, Colorado-based Level 3, which provides broadband services to customers including Netflix Inc., made the statement in a 19-point public letter today….”

Do you feel Comcast by charging Level 3 Communication a fee will protect its TV business?

How much would you pay to watch a new movie sooner?

Time Warner will begin testing a new video-on-demand service that will allow consumers to watch movies at home 30 to 60 days after the initial theater release.

Pricing this service will be a challenge. The CFO estimates that customers would be willing to pay $20-$30 to watch a newly released movie at home.

How should Time Warner price this new service to capture as much consumer surplus as possible?

Reducing your costs with “Clicks, not Bricks”

Vs.

Interesting article from the NYTimes, “Why Bricks and Clicks Don’t Always Mix” . This article illustrates how Netflix is competing with Blockbuster in the video rental business with a cost and operational advantage. With Netflix moving toward streaming movies over the Internet, they are aiming to reduce their costs even further. Will Blockbuster be able to keep up?

Did you know these digital trends?

Have five minutes? Here's the latest "Did you know" video with some interesting stats and trends.

Socialnomics

How important is the social media revolution? Mark Zuckerberg says its a "once in a century" technology. This video tries to make the case with some remarkable statistics.

Pass it on to your friends, if you agree -- or if you don't!