FCC wants public comment on XM-Sirius merger

Monopoly, anyone?

"because the preservation of two separate satellite radio licensees is no longer required to help assure sufficient continuing competition". Not quite. You see, when there is only one company with a license to do something, we call that a monopoly. Since no one else holds a license for satellite radio, how do they possibly claim there will be "sufficient continuing competition"? That's like saying that I have "sufficient continuing competition" for my local phone or cable service. I don't. I have one local phone company, and one cable company, and that's it. No alternatives. No alternatives means no competition. At least in the case of phone/cable, the incumbents have actually put money into their infrastructure, so they have a somewhat legitimate right for not wanting to share.

Revoke the licenses

Give more bandwidth to 802.11. "More choice" will exist when broadcasting dies.

Competition, we've got your STEENKIN competition!

Alas, the whole reason the XM-Sirius merger has become a political hot-potato is because there IS competition to them - competition that has been failing to hold up their end of their FCC licenses. I'm talking about terrestrial radio broadcasters.

Terrestrial radio (T-radio) has undergone a huge transformation in the past decade: it has become more and more homogenized and far more limited in choice, higher in commercial density, and lacking anything more than "jock humor" morals. Yet the revenues for T-radio have continued to plummet - mainly because T-radio continues to alienate their audiences and has failed to address challenges from mp3 players, satellite and internet radio.

Rather than reform T-radio into a 21st. century entertainment medium, the National Association of Broadcasters (radio's equivalent of the RIAA) has used the legislative process to cripple or kill competitors. Internet radio's upcoming demise was perpetrated by T-radio insuring that a very strong, growing competitor was forced into an impossible economic situation. Understand here: T-radio pay NO royalties on music broadcast - content is FREE to them - yet Internet radio was enough of a threat for T-radio to push some way of killing the competitor. (And, yes, they DO influence RIAA directly: how else does radio get away with paying no content royalties?)

Now T-radio is aiming for the only real broadcast competition left: Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS).

Both Sirius and XM are still hemorrhaging money. Merging them together will not solve this problem - unless they TRULY are taking customers away from T-radio. If DBS *IS* taking customers away, then T-radio needs to do something about it - like truly delivering content the customers want.

Besides, if you look at the numbers - DBS subscribers vs. T-radio customers (determined by market shares by Nielsen and others) - T-radio has by far more customers than even a combined Sirius-XM. Monopoly? What monopoly? A monopoly only exists when there is only one CHOICE for a particular service. If the "choice" is DBS ONLY, well, that's a problem. On the other hand that's like saying "SUN is a monopoly, because there is only one choice for SPARC-based systems". Cable and telco are still "true" monopolies: most areas have one "choice" for cable services and one "choice" for subscriber loop connections.

If you look at choices for "audio entertainment" there are MANY available. T-radio is far, far closer to a "monopoly" than any DBS or other entertainment service: not only are they granted free content, but how many other entertainment services come pre-installed in autos, buses, trucks, etc? Yes you can get XM or Sirius, but when was the last time you saw a vehicle that did not have a T-radio already installed? (BTW, this "captive commuter" market is the REAL demographic that is being fought for here: this is where T-radio as well as DBS make their real money.)

No, this is another one of those insidious schemes by a special interest group (NAB) to eliminate another competitor without getting blood (or money) on their hands. If T-radio was in good health and taking care of its customers, all a merger of Sirius and XM would do is hasten their demise.

On the other hand, if the merger does FINALLY force T-radio to fix its problems and offer real programming choices, then it is a benefit to ALL consumers.

And, on the third hand, as I pointed out in an article in "Radio Broadcast Review", I predict that by 2015 most "radio" will be carried by the "Big 4" entertainment networks (at&t, Sprint, Verizon and Microsoft) directly to cell-phone "radios", supplemented by "localcast" via WiFi or WiMax from business and individuals over very short range. DBS spectrum will be reallocated for something useful (like Dept. of Transportation TrafficWatch broadcasts) and the T-radio spectrum will be returned to the Amateur Radio Service for experimentation.

That's my Euro's worth. Hope it helps.

Re: Competition

"Understand here: T-radio pay NO royalties on music broadcast - content is FREE to them"

Yes they do. Look up ASCAP.

Cracking Code.

Whether sight or sound/television or radio, it is original content which generates everything and that is free, of course, because it is only honed and applied imagination. The cost of it though, really, is only the price to be paid by those who would milk its exclusivity to gain competitive advantage in their own particular areas of business.

Creating AIVirtual Market of Original Thoughts is one thing and easily done, for one merely needs to Share the Thought . And having just done so, is it so floated in IT.

The Money arrives from both Angels and Sharks whenever they Realise the Potential for Continuity of Original Thoughts which may or may not Server to their Position and Interests.

The Trick/Magic for Investors then, is to ensure that their businesses/interests move to a readjusted position so that a mutual benefit is generated to feed both Body and Soul/Creative Source and InfraStructure.

If there is no movement/progress to create around Creative Source, the Source will move ITs Interest into more dynamic, S.M.A.R.Ter Enabled Fields, which would no doubt, have also to be created to Server Creative Source Needs and ITs Feeds.

It is how they build Processors, is it not, with buffer overflow and Denial of Service, being the result of a failure of the Processor to further Process Information to its Benefit in a Mutual Satisfaction ....... a missing Instruction Set/Package for an out of Time Sequence Bit/Byte of MetaData?

Any OS is easily compromised with Information/Intelligence which merely questions its Source [Code] for its Root Directory. Being based on the thoughts of man, it is bound to be fatally flawed somewhere and will be inherently unstable and the more secure a System is touted, the more likelihood there is that the Security is concealing unstable Code.

With the simple placement of a Bit of Transparent Information/Information Applicable across all Domains, can the Processor have a nervous breakdown/meltdown/lock up/crash.

Be aware that the Cross Site Cross Domain Zero Day Word package is only a Vulnerability which can crash Operating Systems Processes and Processing, should the Opportunity to develop the Word package be ignored/declined/resisted.

The only Operating System worth a red cent, in that it will definitely work for you and not only be a cash cow for its developers, is one that is Open Sourced. Anything else is definitely not working for you.

Re: Re: Competition - I stand corrected

Indeed, I apologise for this oversight. There are numerous collection agencies that DO require payment from T-radio as well as all other forms of broadcast. The contracts are worth reading, as there are many interesting items that are included or excluded from the measurement of payment.