Appeals Court Disregards Aereo Ruling, Won’t Shut Down Dish’s Streaming Service

Last week, we told you about an attempt by broadcasters — still bloody from their Supreme Court gutting of Aereo — to use the ruling in that case to shut down Dish’s Dish Anywhere streaming service. But yesterday, a federal appeals court said Dish Anywhere could continue pending the outcome of a trial.

The lawsuit, for those coming late to class, involves Dish Anywhere, which allows Dish subscribers to use Slingbox-equipped DVRs to access live and recorded TV content over the Internet. The broadcasters believe this infringes on their copyright. Dish says it’s just another way for someone to watch programming from their DVR.

In documents filed with the court immediately after the Aereo ruling, the broadcasters, led by FOX, argued that Dish “engages in virtually identical conduct” to Aereo by allowing customers to stream the broadcasts over the Internet. Thus, according to FOX, Dish is engaging in an illegal public performance and can’t hide behind the defense that it is only providing the equipment for streaming or that it is the subscribers who are doing the transmitting to themselves from their own copies.

Dish countered by pointing out that the SCOTUS ruling on Aereo stated that the streaming service was acting like a pay-TV operation without paying the retransmission fees that satellite and cable companies pay. Since Dish already pays retransmission fees, and isn’t pirating network feeds, the company claimed that the Aereo comparison doesn’t hold water.

The appeals court opinion [PDF] doesn’t even mention the Aereo case in explaining why it is denying FOX’s petition for a preliminary injunction against Dish Anywhere.

Instead, it affirmed the decisions of the lower court, which had held that an injunction wasn’t needed because there is already a contractual relationship between Dish and FOX and the network “failed to show that harm absent an injunction could not be remedied with money damages.”

The district court had also found that FOX failed to show that Dish Anywhere, already available for several years, “had yet caused FOX’s business any harm,” so there was no need for injunction to prevent further lack of harm.

While the appeals court opinion doesn’t cite Aereo, Multichannel News reports one judge on the panel said during arguments that Dish Anywhere is “completely different technology” from Aereo and that “the Supreme court has all sorts of caveats in the opinion about how this was about Aereo and nothing else and a lot of the ‘nothing elses’ seem to be pretty similar to Slingbox.”

With the appeals court ruling, the lawsuit seems destined for trial in early 2015.

[via Ars Technica]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Diez años con Domingo

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EPA Wants Car Companies To Test Gas Mileage In Real World

(pjpink)

Over the last few years, car makers have had to fork over more than $500 million in refunds to customers because of exaggerated fuel economy estimates on new vehicle stickers. In an effort to provide more accurate mileage information to consumers, the Environmental Protection Agency wants car companies to do their mpg testing on the road instead of in the lab.

There are three problems with the current way in which mileage estimates are currently calculated.

First, the testing is done in a lab intended to simulate real world driving conditions. That’s convenient, but not a substitute for actual road tests. It also doesn’t explain why hybrids tend to underperform in the real world while diesel vehicles often do better on the road than in their lab simulations.

Second, for more than three decades, vehicles with the same engine, transmission and weight class could use the same data for their fuel economy labels. This has not been a big problem with traditionally gasoline powered engines, but in hybrid vehicles this has not worked so well. For example, Ford originally took the mileage estimates for Fusion hybrid and used them on its C-Max. But then Ford had to revise that data after our colleagues at Consumer Reports found a significant difference between the C-Max’s stated mpg and their real-world test results.

The third major issue with the current mileage estimates is that the EPA only has the ability to verify about 15% of car makers’ estimates, meaning car companies may be tempted to tweak their lab testing in the hope that they won’t be put under the EPA microscope.

Of course, when the EPA does catch a car maker exaggerating mileage estimates, the penalties can be substantial. In 2013, Hyundai and Kia agreed to pay out nearly $400 million in refunds after overstating mpg figures on some 900,000 vehicles between 2010 and 2012. Earlier this year, Ford revised mpg figures on a number of cars and now faces upwards of $200 million in payouts to consumers.

The Wall Street Journal now reports that the EPA is looking to propose new rules that would require road-testing of vehicles as part of the mileage estimating process. And not merely running the car on a test track and seeing how it does. The EPA wants car companies to measure air-resistance and rolling friction in the real world, rather than in a computer simulation.

“Some auto makers already do this, but we are establishing a regulatory requirement for all auto makers,” Chris Grundler, director of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, tells the Journal.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Proposed $27.4B Marriage Between Camel And Newport Cigarette Makers Worries Health Advocates

(frankieleon)

A $27.4 billion merger between the No. 2 and No. 3 cigarette companies in the United States might might cut down the number of players on the tobacco industry playing field, but it’s also cause for concern for health advocates.

On Tuesday, the second-largest tobacco company R.J. Reynolds, maker of Camel and Pall Mall, announced it plans to buy Lorillard, the maker of Newport cigarettes, USA Today reports.

The proposed purchase by Reynolds would create a formidable rival for current top cigarette company Altria Group, the maker of Marlboros. Altria currently accounts for 46% of the U.S. cigarette market, while Reynolds has about 25% and Lorillard about 12% of the market.

In an effort to escape some regulatory scrutiny, Reynolds and Lorillard also announced they would sell several of their smaller brands. Imperial Tobacco will pay $7.1 billion to buy Reynolds’ Kool and Salem brands, as well as Lorillard’s blu eCigs brand. The purchase will make Imperial the third-largest cigarette company in the U.S.

Lorillard’s decision to sell blu eCigs comes as a surprise to some analysts who believed that Reynolds was particularly interested in that brand. However, during Tuesday’s announcement officials with Reynolds said the company will stick with its newly launched VUSE product, saying it “offers superior technology and has received very positive early results in its national rollout.”

The proposed deal is expected to give Reynolds over $11 billion in revenue and approximately $5 billion in operating income to invest in innovation, consolidate production, sales and overhead – all of which worry health advocates.

“There’s serious concern that a merged company with increased resources poses a real threat to increased tobacco marketing to America’s kids,” says Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids tells USA Today. “This is a marriage of Joe Camel and Newport — two brands that have played a major role in youth tobacco use.”

The Food and Drug Administration has put emphasis on curbing teen smoking this year with its first ever anti-smoking campaign aimed at teens. The $115 million multimedia education campaign aims to show youth the true costs and health consequences of smoking by focusing on how tobacco affects one’s outward appearance.

Reynolds American buys rival Lorillard for $27B [USA Today]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Like The Sign Says: This “Sale” At Toys ‘R’ Us Will Save You Exactly No Money

While we’ve become savvy enough shoppers to notice when a bit of Target math is about to render any advertised sale useless in the face of actual math, most of the time it’s up to shoppers to realize they’re not actually about to get a deal. But at Toys ‘R’ Us, at least the signs are up front about the fact that you’re about to save exactly nothing in a so-called sale.

Consumerist reader John snapped this pic of what he calls “upgraded Target math” at a Toys ‘R’ Us in Virginia.

At Toys ‘R’ Us, the sales have you.

Not only will your discount come out to $0, as the sign clearly trumpets, but these Hot Wheels will cost you $0.10 more than usual. But who likes a sign that declares, “Price Hike!” No one.

At least you know your non-savings right up front. And for that clarity, we salute you, Toys ‘R’ Us. But we’ll be getting our Hot Wheels elsewhere, thanks.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

T-Mobile Users Complain About Stalled, Dropped Data

(So Cal Metro)

As T-Mobile attempts to roll out its LTE network, a number of the carrier’s customers are complaining about losing wireless data connections.

TmoNews.com points to threads on Reddit and other forums where dozens of T-Mobile customers are venting their gripes about this issue.

Over on the Reddit thread, users on a wide variety of wireless devices say their T-Mo data will suddenly stop working, forcing them to toggle Airplane mode on/off or restart their phones to obtain a working connection.

TmoNews’s Cam Bunton suggests the following band-aid solutions:

• Toggle Airplane Mode off/on: The easiest way to try to reset your connection to the T-Mo network.

• Reboot your phone: Like many electronic devices, phones sometimes just need to be rebooted to get working again.

• Call Customer Service: They may be able to tell you if there is a problem with your account or a known connection issue in your area.

• Request a “Cancel Location”: This is when T-Mo Customer Service disconnects and reconnects your handset from the tower. Some users have mentioned this resolved their problems.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

July Recall Roundup – Beware Of Flimsy Phone Chargers

In July’s recall roundup, the Consumer Products Safety Commission is out to protect us all from shocking air conditioners, exploding wine bottles, leaking snow throwers, and dangerous mobile device chargers.

Home

Napoleon Propane Gas Fireplaces – Glass front may break from gas pressure

Coravin Wine Access System – may cause wine bottles to explode

Trane XB300 and American Standard Silver SI Air Conditioning Systems – Some units are not grounded and could cause electric shock

M&M’s Pint And Shot Glasses – contain lead and cadmium

Clothing

Julie Vos women’s scarves – do not meet federal flammability standards

Lawn & Garden

All Power America Single-Stage Snow Throwers – risk of fuel leak and fire hazard

Sports & Outdoors

MTech USA Karambit Neck Knife and Sheath(Big 5 Sports) – knife does not stay in sheath

SR Suntour forks on model year 2011 through 2013 Scott and Trek bicycles – fork may break

Electronics

Gemini USB Power Adapter/Chargers – fire and burn hazard

Lily Pulitzer, Ban.do, and Jonathan Adler licensed iPhone and iPad adapter kits – risk of overheating, fire, and prongs remaining in the electric outlet.

Sony VAIO Flip PC Laptops – Batteries may overheat and catch fire

Roland Digital Pianos – power cord can be plugged into wrong socket

Medications

Panadol Advance pain reliever, 100-count bottles (Puerto Rico only) – bottle is not child-resistant.

Fireworks

Big Fireworks Sword-Shaped Sparklers – Device may explode during use, which is not a good feature in a handheld fireworks item. (We’re a little late on this one: CPSC announced this recall on July 3rd.)

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

5 Things You Shouldn’t Buy For Your College-Bound Kid

(Chris Metcalf)

So your kid is finally set to leave home and head off to college. You might be tempted to splurge on all manner of purchases to ensure that he or she will be able to study, eat, sleep, and dress properly. But some of those commonly bought items are just money down the drain.

The folks at DealNews put together a round-up of 8 items you shouldn’t buy for your college-bound kid. We pulled out the five that we deemed the most relevant.

1. A Printer

When I started college in 1993, I went off with a brand-new inkjet printer that I used a grand total of 12 times, as I had access to faster, better and free printing in the computer labs.

Two decades on, printers are even less essential, with a large number of professors accepting papers and other class assignments via e-mail.

“Outside of home-made fliers for frat parties, modern students may find that they never have to print a single piece of paper, so why invest in a printer?” asks DealNews.

2. A Tablet

If your kid doesn’t already own a tablet, you will probably hear about how essential it will be to their college classwork. What they really mean is that it will be essential to watching Game of Thrones on HBO Go.

As DealNews points out, affordable tablets are not yet laptop replacements. And those tablets that can replace a laptop are incredibly expensive, so you might as well just get your kid a laptop.

3. An Iron and Ironing Board

While these might be essential for a small number of college freshmen who insist on wearing something other than sweatshirts and jeans, most first-year students won’t see their ironing board again until they pack up all their wrinkled clothes to come home at the end of the semester.

4. A Mini Fridge

These always seem like a good idea, but most of my memories of friends’ mini fridges involve the disappointment of opening one up and failing to find anything edible. At best, the fridge will be used to chill beer that most college freshman aren’t legally allowed to purchase anyway.

5. An iPhone

If your college-bound kid is begging you to pay for a new iPhone before they head off to school, DealNews points out that new iPhone models tend to be released shortly after the start of the school year, and that prices on previous-generation iPhones tend to drop after the latest model is released.

“It’s well within your right, as a parent, to force your kid to use his (gasp!) old iPhone until that happens,” writes DealNews.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

¿Sabes que ya se puede saber cuantas personas han visto un tweet? #socialmedia

Hola:

Las nuevas analíticas de Twitter han supuesto un gran avance en la medición de los resultados de nuestras acciones en esta red social, aunque es muy pronto para asegurar que esta herramienta va a cambiar la forma de trabajar en Twitter, en mi opinión va a ser así.

Conocer que tweets funcionan, que horarios son los mejores/peores, que le gusta a tu público objetivo con datos proporcionados por Twitter es sin duda materia de análisis para mejorar nuestras estrategias y las de nuestros clientes.

Os dejo con un par de pantallazos para que os animéis a probarlas.

Pantalla general de las analíticas de Twitter de una cuenta

Pantalla de detalle del análisis de un tweet

Archivado en: Redes Sociales, Sociedad de la información Tagged: internet, redes sociales, tic, Twitter, Web 2.0.



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Comcast Demands An Explanation Before Agreeing To Cancel Your Account

Ryan Block and his wife Veronica Belmont would like to cancel Comcast. Why? It’s none of our business. And it’s none of Comcast’s business. Or so you’d think. Comcast seems to disagree. Listen as the Comcast retention guy refuses to cancel their account without an explanation, going as far as to suggest that if Ryan doesn’t want to provide said explanation, he can go to a Comcast store to cancel.

We’ve transcribed just a few highlights below, but if you have headphones and a punching bag handy, you might want to listen to the recording. It’s the only way you’ll get the full effect.

According to Mr. Block’s description on Soundcloud, the recording begins about 10 minutes into the call, after Veronica passed the phone to Ryan. We’d say “enjoy,” but it’s, well, not enjoyable.

Kind of reminds us of this. Everything old is new again.

R: We’d like to disconnect please…

C: Help me understand why you don’t want faster internet.

R: Help me understand why you can’t just disconnect us.

C: My job is to have a conversation with you about keeping your service, about finding out why it is you’re looking to cancel your service. If you don’t want to talk to me, you can definitely go into the Comcast store and cancel your service there. …

…

R: Can you cancel us by phone? The answer is yes, correct?

C: It sounds like you don’t want to go over this information with me. If you want to go over that information, that’s the easiest way to get your account disconnected.

R: I am declining to state why we are leaving Comcast because I don’t owe you an explanation. So, if you can proceed to the next question. If you have to fill out a form, that’s fine. Please proceed to the next question an we’ll attempt to answer that if possible.

C: Being that we’re the number 1 provider of TV and internet service in the entire country, why is it you don’t want the number 1 provider? …

…

R: I’m declining to state. Can you please go to the next question so we can cancel our service?

C: I’m just trying to figure out here what it is about Comcast service that you’re not liking. …

R: This phone call is an amazing representative example of why I don’t want to stay with Comcast. So, can you please cancel our service?

C: I’m trying to help you. You’re not letting me help you by declining answers, by doing all this.

R: You can help me by disconnecting our service.

C: How is that helping you?

R: Because that’s what I want.

C: Why is that what you want?

R: Because that’s what I want.

C: There has to be some sort of reason behind it…. We just want to find out what it is that’s causing a customer who has been with us a long time to leave. …

…

You’ve been a Comcast customer for 9 years. After a decade … clearly the service is working great for you. … All of a sudden you’re moving and something is making you want to change. What’s making you do that?

….

R: That’s none of your business. Your business is to disconnect us.

C: As a company that is a cable and internet provider primarily, that is our business. If we don’t know why our customers are leaving, how can we make this a better experience for you next time?

R: That’s a fantastic question and something that you can hire a firm to figure out. … Can you disconnect us by phone? Can you disconnect our service? Yes or no?

C: Why don’t you want those services? You’re not interested in the fastest internet in the country?

…

R: Are you capable of disconnecting our service?

…

C: It’s something we can do. …

R: I would appreciate you now doing that. Please proceed in disconnecting our service. …

C: What is it about this other provider that’s making it sound better?

R: I don’t know. It’s a totally arbitrary decision.

…

C: Why don’t want a good service? You don’t want something that works?

R: Is this a joke? Are you punking us right now?

C: I’m trying to get information. I’m trying to help our company be better. That’s my job.

R: I can guarantee you right now, you’re doing an incredibly good job at helping your company be worse.

C: I’m terribly sorry it feels to you like I’m trying to argue. I’m just trying to help you out and get some information. We’ll just bypass all this information. I’ll go ahead and disconnect this service. It’s really a shame to see you go to something that can’t give you what we can … No one else can guarantee their speed like we can. … I can save you more than $100 a month, get you internet 5x faster than anyone else can … What about those savings, those services are you not wanting?

R: Are you done? You literally just a moment ago said you’d go ahead and disconnect our service and that’s what we’re going to need to do.

C: We’re going through that process. I’m just asking some questions. …

R: Can you tell me how much longer it’s going to take?

C: It’s going to take a couple more minutes here. What about the service is making you want to change?

R: I’m good. I’m just going to wait until you can confirm that you’ve canceled the service.

C: Well you’re all set. You know what, it’s disconnected. I’m really sorry to see you go to someone who can’t give you what we can. But I’d like to thank you for being a great part of Comcast. Have a wonderful day.

(Thanks to Mike!)

by Meg Marco via Consumerist