11.4.2014

Your Voice Really Does Matter:  It’s Election Day, ya’ll! Midterm elections that is. Not to sound too preachy, but if you are of voting age and able to vote, now is the time to do so. Contrary to popular belief, midterms are just as important as the national Presidential election (if not more important).

Today, you get to vote for not only state governors but also Senators, and Members of Congress (you know, the people who actually write and pass laws and greatly impact things we should all care about – jobs, the economy, social issues, foreign policy, etc.).

Nate Silver has spoken and predicts that Republicans have a 76% chance of taking control of the Senate. But, there’s still time to prove him wrong. Bottom line: Every vote counts so please do exercise your rights today. Not sure where to go? No worries, we got you! Check it out below.

[voterinfotool]

THE SKINNY.

Why Not Just Do Both?

It’s no longer a strategy for avoiding making those hard decisions about what to have for lunch. The Federal Communications Commission is using it too for its approach to maintaining an open Internet.  According to a leak late last week via the Wall Street Journal, the FCC wants to please everyone and is thinking about a hybrid approach to net neutrality.

Wait, What’s Net Neutrality Again?

As described in one of our posts back in July, net neutrality is the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated equally, and preferential treatment should not be given to any one application, content, platform, etc. based on who pays for what.  In other words, you shouldn’t have to pay extra fees just to watch high-quality streams of your fave shows or movies on Netflix or Amazon Prime.  We’d like to stream the content of our choice sans that dreaded buffering circle without having to fork over any more $$$, please and thank you.  Still, not sure about net neutrality?  John Oliver is still your guy.

Standing Out from the Crowd…

Of the 3 million plus comments the FCC received from the public on its proposed Open Internet (aka net neutrality) rules, it seems like 2 submissions stood out and is seriously being considered by the FCC.  So, what are these submissions?  They come courtesy of Mozilla and DC-based non profit the Center for Democracy & Technology.  For months, DC policy folks have been throwing around terms like Title II, Section 706, and common carrier.  Basically, the gist of these proposals is to treat content flowing from Internet platforms to ISPs (“wholesale” transactions) differently from content flowing from ISPs to users (“retail” transactions).  While the retail part won’t be heavily regulated, the wholesale part will be subject to the FCC’s net neutrality rules.

Compromise Is Good, Right?

Not exactly.  No one seems to like where this is headed.  ISPs are still strongly opposed to what seems like pretty much anything short of leaving things just the way they are and avoiding reclassification of Internet services as a utility (just think telephones).  Those who are pro-net neutrality are concerned that this hybrid approach still leaves room for “paid prioritization,” the exact same concept net neutrality seeks to ban. In other words, there could still be room for you to get charged to watch that high quality streaming of House of Cards or OITNB. Oy!

What’s Next?

We’ll have to wait and see how things unfold between now and the end of the year.  Some speculate that it’s possible we’ll see proposed rules by December but others are thinking sometime in January. But in the meantime, there’s talk about how a new Congress will deal with this issue, how this will impact things like the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, and even the markets.  So much to think through …

What Else Is Going On This Week?

It’s Not You, But It’s Not Me Either …

Its just business.  This is what Taylor Swift is probably telling Spotify.  Last week, she was on top of the world with the release of her new album.  Then, she kicked out this week by announcing her world tour! But, you gotta take the good news with the bad. And, the bad news is that she also pulled her entire catalog of music from Spotify. Why? It may have to do with concerns about piracy as she did pen an WSJ Op-Ed on the issue back in July.  Needless to say, Spotify isn’t too pleased.

More Of The Same …

Amazon recently jumped in on the diversity dialogue and released numbers on the make up of its employees.  Turns out Amazon employees are mostly white males, particularly as you climb up the ranks into leadership.  The U.S. breakdown of workers is as follows: White  – 60%; Black – 18%; Asian – 13%, and Hispanic – 9%.

From Russia With No Love 

Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly came out as gay.  This should be “NBD,” but it’s the first time this has been done by a CEO of a Fortune 500 company.  Almost everyone reacted positively and had nothing but kind words for Cook.  Russians, on the other hand, had a different reaction. In efforts to combat “gay propaganda,” a Steve Jobs memorial located in St. Petersburg in the form of a six feet plus iPhone monument has since been dismantled.

The Streets Are Talkin’

Google may or may not be looking for a new mission statement.  Larry Page, Google co-founder, recently told the Financial Times that the Internet company is probably due to update its mission statement.

Rumor has it that Apple Watch will be available in Spring 2015.

This past September, Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba went public. Today, it’s set to release its first earnings report. Some speculate that the company’s impressive growth will continue, and its revenue will probably increase about 45% from last year, totaling about $2.61 billion.  Things are looking good, but it could also face stiff competition from Tencent, a rival Chinese Internet holding company that owns a popular mobile messaging platform.