IAB Study: 26 Percent of U.S. Adults Now Watching Original Digital Video (Ad Week)
A growing number of U.S. adults are shifting their viewing habits toward original digital video, according to a new study commissioned by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The audience of U.S. adults watching original video programs online at least once a month has grown to 63 million from 45 million in 2013.
The inside story of Facebook’s biggest setback (The Guardian)
Where Zuckerberg saw the endless promise of a digital future, Indians came to see something more sinister. Facebook’s grand plans to bring India online had been halted by overwhelming local opposition. The social network had a grand plan to connect millions of Indians to the internet. Here’s how it all went wrong.
Apple says it isn’t going to stop selling music downloads (Recode)
The future of music is streaming, not downloads. But that doesn’t mean Apple, the company that essentially invented the market for music download sales, is going to stop selling downloads anytime soon. That’s contrary to a report today that said Apple planned to stop selling downloads in two years.”
Local news startup Ripple apologizes for taking other people’s news (Recode)
Ripple is a startup that wants to deliver local news but doesn’t create the news itself. Several publications that are in the business of writing and reporting local news had a beef with Ripple: The company had taken their full stories, without permission, and published them on its own site and app.
NAB: FCC’s 126 MHz Target Was ‘Appropriately Aggressive’ (Broadcasting & Cable)
The National Association of Broadcasters says it is OK with the FCC trying to get as much spectrum back from broadcasters as possible and told the FCC so in arguing that means it should back off trying to free up even more for Google and unlicensed wireless.
Former FTC Chair Has Issues With FCC’s Opt-In CPNI Regime (Broadcasting & Cable)
While former Federal Trade Commission chairman Jon Leibowitz says he is in general agreement with the FCC’s broadband privacy initiative and its effort to protect consumer privacy generally, he definitely has some issues with the specifics.
Suicide on Periscope Prompts French Officials to Open Inquiry (NY Times)
Officials are looking into an episode in which a young woman recorded herself jumping in front of a train outside Paris on the live video-streaming app. In a series of videos on the live-streaming app Periscope, she said that her name was Océane, that she was 19 and that she worked in a retirement home.
FCC Commissioner: Privacy Rules Won’t Help Protect Consumers’ Privacy (Inside Sources)
Federal Communications Commissioners Ajit Pai and Tom Wheeler reprised their roles as political opponents on Capitol Hill, where they debated the merits of the agency’s recently proposed privacy regulations for ISPs — rules Wheeler says will carry privacy into the digital age, but according to Pai, won’t actually protect consumer data.
Tech Giants Change Course, Take on Government Over Data (Inside Sources)
In the perpetual struggle over privacy and security, the pendulum is swinging mightily toward privacy. Several major technology companies — Apple, Microsoft, WhatsApp, Google and Facebook, among others — are taking aggressive stances against the U.S. government’s surveillance of individuals’ digital information.
ACA PRESIDENT PANS CHARTER-TWC OVERBUILD CONDITION (Multichannel News)
The American Cable Association is not happy with the FCC’s overbuild condition in the Charter/Time Warner Cable merger, which means some of its members could face competition from the newly enlarged company. The FCC included a condition on building out to an additional 2 million residential homes.
You probably haven’t even noticed Google’s sketchy quest to control the world’s knowledge (Washington Post)
Google’s “knowledge panels” materialize at random, as unsourced and absolute as if handed down by God. To Google, that’s proof of its semantic search technology; to Googlers, it’s a convenience that saves them a few clicks. But to skeptics, of whom there are a growing number, it’s a looming public literacy threat.
Why Broadcast TV Advertising Is in Trouble (The Wrap- Commentary)
The goal of advertisers is simple: to reach consumers. So as consumers shift from reading traditional periodicals to Internet content, advertisers generally follow. Over long periods of time, advertisers should allocate their spending in the same way that consumers allocate their time.
FBI director blames ‘viral video effect’ for spike in violent crime (CNET)
The head of the FBI believes that a spike in violent crime in many cities may be due to officers’ fears of showing up on Internet videos confronting suspects. FBI Director James Comey said that a “viral video effect” is leading to less aggressive policing that “could well be at the heart” of an alarming increase in murders in many cities.