7.15.2014
GOOD TO KNOW: People that work for Amazon probably look better than you. According to social networking app, Hinge, its users went for Amazon employees about 14% more than others. In yo’ face, Google and Facebook!THE SKINNY.
STORY OF THE DAY.
Today is the deadline for the Federal Communications Commission’s public comment period on its proposed net neutrality rules.
WHO CARES?
Turns out a lot of you give a d*mn and like your Internet just the way it is — open and free. The latest count is over 677,000 submissions to the Commission (thanks, John Oliver), and it looks like people aren’t digging Chairman Tom Wheeler’s plan.
ALL EYES ON THEM.
Everyone’s been waiting to see what Internet companies have to say about the proposed plan. Yesterday, The Internet Association, a D.C.-based group representing leading Internet companies, turned in their comments. The group, whose mission is to fight for Internet freedom, made it clear that regardless of whether you prefer mobile or wireline, paid prioritization for content on Internet platforms is a no-go. So far, individual companies like Etsy and Kickstarter have also weighed in, and they are also worried about paid prioritization . Etsy says if the proposal were in effect, the company wouldn’t even be able to exist. reddit’s also activating its user base on this issue and urging them to support the reclassification of broadband services under Title II of the Communications Act (Title II).
WHAT ABOUT TITLE II?
The argument is that reclassifying broadband services as a utility (like your common carrier phone service) Title II would prevent paid prioritization of content that most of us are concerned about at the moment. Some of us prefer not to pay more for us to watch or access certain content at faster speeds. Proponents say going down this route will protect the open Internet and allow for you and me to think up the next big Internet company. Others against this idea, think it’ll open up the Internet to regulation and deter innovation. And by others, I mean cable companies.
SPEAKING OF…
Cable companies have yet to submit their filings, but there’s still time.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
This is just the first round. The FCC will open another comment round for additional input from the public.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
NOT AGAIN.
In other news, privacy advocates, including ACLU and the Electronic Frontiers Foundations, are worried about CISA, the latest cybersecurity bill that would allow companies to share information with the federal government. These groups compare this bill to a similar bill, CISPA, which would have permitted the same thing if passed into law. They are writing to President Obama to speak out against the controversial bill.
THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’
Move over YouTube, Yahoo!’s got next. With its push to deliver more content to users, Yahoo! is teaming up with Live Nation to offer free live steam videos of concerts. If this bodes well, it’ll be a major boost in establishing Screen — the company’s answer to YouTube. Free Justin Timberlake concert? Please and thank you.
LinkedIn wants in on the content game too. The social network acquired Newsle, which lets people know when their connections have been mentioned in the news.
How about we acquire another dating site? IAC/InterActive Corp just purchased HowAboutWe, an online service that matches people based on date-suggestions. IAC already has OKCupid, Match, and Tinder in its portfolio.
Secret, an app people use to anonymously post gossip about their professional and personal lives, has raised $25 million to offer its services more broadly. It now wants to link its app to Facebook so users can easily connect with their “friends.”