nbc

Consumer groups slam NBC's antipiracy plea

About a month ago, we reported that media conglomerate NBC Universal has asked federal regulators to require that broadband providers do more about piracy on their networks.

As the Federal Communications Commission weighs whether to impose so-called Net neutrality requirements on companies like Verizon and AT&T, NBC general counsel Richard Cotton urged the regulators to issue a statement that "broadband service providers have an obligation to use readily available means to prevent the use of their broadband capacity to transfer pirated content."

On Monday, which marked the last day for reply comments to issues raised in … Read more

Future Implications: We fast-forward (and watch) commercials

In a recent study conducted by NBC, people were hooked up to sensors and shown television shows. During their time watching the show, researchers took note of changes in heart rate, palm sweat, eye movement and breathing patterns to see how the human body reacts to the program. From there, the researchers showed commercials in fast-forward to measure if the same bodily reactions were present during the commercials. The answer is actually good for everyone involved: they were the same.

Although it evolved out of a series of recording technologies before it, the Digital Video Recorder can be officially traced … Read more

NBC, News Corp video venture hires CEO

The video venture created by media conglomerates News Corp and NBC Universal finally has a leader.

The tentatively named NewCo has hired Jason Kilar, a longtime former Amazon.com executive as CEO. Kilar is credited with helping form Amazon's video and DVD strategy during his 10 years at the company.

NewCo will distribute full-length movies and clips from at least a dozen television networks and two major film studios over the Web, including at three of the Web's largest Internet portals, AOL, MSN and Yahoo. Some of those contributing content, besides NBC and Fox include Comcast, MySpace and … Read more

NBC to feds: Urge ISPs to police piracy

Friday marked the deadline for filing comments with federal regulators scrutinizing "broadband industry practices," and for the most part, they're familiar pleas for why or why not to impose strict Net neutrality requirements.

Not so for media conglomerate NBC Universal. Its general counsel, Richard Cotton, urged the Federal Communications Commission not to get bogged down in the question of whether it's wise to prohibit network operators from prioritizing content through making special deals. What's missing from the debate, he wrote, is acknowledgment of "a huge and rapidly growing proportion of Internet traffic consists of … Read more

NBC Universal allowed to argue against YouTube

A U.S. district judge has denied a request by Viacom to enter a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of journalist Bob Tur, who is suing YouTube for copyright infringement. The judge will, however, allow NBC Universal to file an amicus brief in support of Tur.

Tur is the chopper-piloting journalist who accused YouTube in a lawsuit filed last summer with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles of allowing users to post clips he shot of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Google, which acquired YouTube last October, has asked the court to dismiss the case.

Viacom and NBC Universal … Read more

NBC lines up against YouTube in copyright case

NBC Universal and Viacom have come out against YouTube in a legal case that could help to determine whether the video-sharing site is culpable for copyright violations committed by users.

On Friday, NBC Universal and Viacom filed a request with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles asking that they be allowed to file a friends-of-the court brief in support of journalist Robert Tur, according to a copy of the request obtained by CNET News.com.

Tur, a Los Angeles-area news reporter, accused YouTube of copyright infringement in a lawsuit last summer. Tur said in his suit that footage … Read more

News roundup: YouTube rival cometh, Tabblo purchased, Kongregator goes public

NBC and News Corp. push new Web rival to YouTube. If you can't beat 'em join 'em, which is what AOL, MSN, Yahoo and MySpace are doing to combat media juggernaut YouTube. The companies have combined forces and are gearing up to launch a new online video service this summer. Besides user-submitted clips, expect to find full-length TV shows and paid-for movies from two major studios. ( CNET News.com)

HP to acquire photo start-up Tabblo. Photo sharing and printing service Tabblo is being acquired by Hewlett-Packard. In our hands-on we noted the ease and simplicity of its built-in printing … Read more

Fit 'The Office' in your pocket

You can soon view Pam and Jim's "will they, won't they" dance on your cell phone as NBC announced Wednesday it will offer full-length mobile versions of its prime-time TV shows on demand. Shows like The Office and Heroes will be streamed to your phone by MobiTV. Prices start at $1.99 each for a 24-hour viewing period.

You won't be able to store the shows on your phone, which is disappointing. Even worse, it's unclear what types of phones can pause shows and resume watching later. I'm guessing you'll need a … Read more