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ISPs Ask FCC to Halt "Discriminatory" ESPN360 Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 15, 2009 - 9:34am.
Washington - A group of small cable TV operators has petitioned the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to halt the practice of content providers charging "discriminatory" rates to ISPs in exchange for exclusive content, as they say is the case with Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ESPN360 broadband service, Ars Technica reports.

Disney has struck deals with nearly 60 DSL-based broadband ISPs, including AT&T, to exclusively offer its ESPN360.com service, which offers live and archived sporting events.

The ISPs then make the service available exclusively to their subscribers; ESPN360 is not available via any other means than the DSL providers.

The American Cable Association (ACA), which represents some 900 smaller cable ISPs that serve mainly rural areas, argued that "media giants are in the early stages of becoming Internet gatekeepers by requiring broadband providers to pay for their Web-based content and services and include them as part of basic Internet access for all subscribers.

"These content providers are also preventing subscribers who are interested in the content from independently accessing it on broadband networks of providers that have refused to pay."

"We don't force distributors -- small or large -- to carry any of our products," ESPN told Ars. "ESPN360.com is a business that would simply not exist but for this economic model, and it offers over 3,500 live events which would mostly not otherwise be seen."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/k6htb (Ars Technica)

http://snipurl.com/k6hrh (Wired.com)

http://snipurl.com/k6idt (PDF: American Cable Association statement)

Published in DMW Daily, June 15, 2009
tags: Sports | Video | Law | Policy | TV | Disney | AT&T | Net Neutrality | ESPN360 | American Cable Association |



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