Larby Amirouche thinks TV Everywhere Is Not Good For Consumers

Recently, consumer groups called for government agencies to investigate TV Everywhere, a new scheme that would require Internet users to pay for a cable TV subscription if they want to watch popular shows online. Larby has learned that TV Everywhere appears to be the product of collusion between major programmers and the big cable, satellite and phone companies to keep content off the Internet. Larby thinks this is dangerous, and that this effort is being headed by Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the TV Everywhere initiative appears to be built on cable operators agreeing to work together to pressure content providers to make their content available on the Internet only to viewers that have paid for a cable TV subscription in addition to an Internet connection. Read more at larbyamirouche.com.

With this system, Larby believes that TV Everywhere will connect online TV distribution to the existing cable, phone, and satellite distributors' TV subscriptions. Larby doesn't believe the statements by industry executives who say this will be a good thing. The consumer groups argue there is enough evidence of collusion and other harms to warrant a full-scale investigation by the Justice Department or the Federal Trade Commission into the scheme. Many executives say that TV Everywhere consists of collaboration, not collusion. Despite many arguments for this, Larby doesn't believe collaboration leads to innovation and other benefits.