New York Times
AT&T Carves Out Pay-TV Business in Deal With TPG
AT&T agreed to sell a stake in its pay-TV unit to private-equity firm TPG and carve out the struggling business, pulling the telecom giant back from a costly wager on entertainment. The transaction would move the DirecTV and AT&T TV services in the US into a new entity that will be jointly run by the new partners. AT&T will retain a 70% stake in the business. TPG will pay $1.8 billion in cash for a 30% stake.
Facebook Takes a Side, Barring Myanmar Military After Coup (New York Times)
Submitted by benton on Fri, 02/26/2021 - 06:17The long, painful path of net neutrality
A Q&A with New York Times reporter Cecilia Kang. Why does the net neutrality fight matter? Many Americans have only one or possibly two options for home internet providers. Those companies can in theory decide whether we can view Netflix or YouTube crystal clear or if we see the pinwheel of death as those sites stutter.
Wi-Fi 6: A New Generation of Wi-Fi to Improve Your Home Network (New York Times)
Submitted by benton on Wed, 02/24/2021 - 06:29In Myanmar as the military seized power again, generals took country offline, criminalized online dissent, blocked social media (New York Times)
Submitted by benton on Wed, 02/24/2021 - 06:29Facebook to reverse news ban on Australian sites, government to make amendments to media bargaining code
Facebook will walk back its block on Australian users sharing news on its site after the government there agreed to make amendments to the proposed media bargaining laws that would force major tech giants to pay news outlets for their content. The code is structured so that if Facebook and Google do not sign commercial deals with traditional media outlets the Treasurer can "designate" them, and force them to pay for access to news content. The government promised to make further amendments to the code, including giving Facebook more time to strike those deals.
The Internet Is Splintering
Each country has its own car safety regulations and tax codes. But should every country also decide its own bounds for appropriate online expression? We probably don’t want internet companies deciding on the freedoms of billions of people, but we may not want governments to have unquestioned authority, either. Regulating online expression in any single country — let alone in the world — is a messy set of trade offs with no easy solutions. Let us lay out some of the issues: