ABSTRACT
The mass distribution of video programming over IP networks promises a richer experience for viewers, with widely predicted increases in interactivity, choice, personalization, and the ability to micro pay for a la carte programming. 1 Whereas broadcasting was licensed, controlled, and tightly regulated by national governments (or even owned as a monopoly service), video-over-IP will be delivered by international market mechanisms with both relatively minimal direct legal restraint and little direct government strategic intervention. Standardizing video delivery to produce network economies of scale and scope will require international corporate coordination between the converging industries of broadcasting and video production, wired and wireless telecommunications, and computer hard- and software derived data communications. In this economic analysis of law, I consider the distribution of existing television broadcasting archive over IP-based networks. While new production can be designed for IP networks in technological, economic, and legal terms, I postulate that it is access to the mass of video archive which will create the critical mass of online programming that drives the “video Internet.” My focus is on the development of legal regimes based on market mechanisms, which will lead into the online exploitation of broadcast video rights. Although my perspective is predominantly European, the markets are developing globally, and U.S. and Canadian law and corporate strategy are analyzed where appropriate. The overwhelming conclusion is that the Internet’s engineering development is driven by the security, competition, quality, and reliability imperatives in monetizing broadband data, of which video is the paradigm I adopt. This development is achieved through international standardization by industry bodies supported by governments, and is emerging in creation of quality of service (QoS) in the local loop: the “final mile” to the consumer over which infrastructure and IPR owners exert control. This can only be achieved over broadband networks (see Shelanski, 1999), which requires investment in upgrading backbone (the “middle mile”), local access, and home access infrastructures. The investment required creates local monopoly and duopoly (the “last mile” issue), typically of fixed wireline access by cable modem and Digital Subscriber Line copper wire, 2 though other technologies exist to offer broadband wireless access (overcoming the “last metre” problem via 3G mobile and “4G” wireless LANs). Broadband networks are driven by the use of services that will monetize the bandwidth available. Following a summary of the state of video-over-IP legal, policy, and market developments required in sections 1 and 2 of this chapter (see also Marsden, 2001b), I examine in turn:
In Section 3, the recent state of broadband market and policy development.
In Section 4, TV intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the online environment.
In Sections 5 and 6, I conclude that rights holders in infrastructure and Internet Property Rights (IPRs) will drive the development of a secure broadband local loop for delivery of IP video, signaling at least a temporary end to the Internet’s founding architectural principle of “end-to-end.”
