Cable TV

Martin Filler in the New York Review of Books Blog:

The theme throughout all the answers to TED 2010’s title “What the World Needs Now”was the need for innovation in everything from nuclear energy to education to foreign aid to disease prevention to music to graphic design.   So where does the world need to innovate?

Justin E. H. Smith "We are so presumptuous as to
wish to be known by all the world and even by those who will arrive
when we are no more. And we are so vain that the esteem of five or six
people who surround us amuses us and renders us content." --Blaise Pascal (tr. Jason Boone, the epigram to his 2002 poem, "Ho There, Raise Up the Tommy Lift!")*

Justin E. H. Smith "We are so presumptuous as to
wish to be known by all the world and even by those who will arrive
when we are no more. And we are so vain that the esteem of five or six
people who surround us amuses us and renders us content." --Blaise Pascal (tr. Jason Boone, the epigram to his 2002 poem, "Ho There, Raise Up the Tommy Lift!")*

Justin E. H. Smith "We are so presumptuous as to
wish to be known by all the world and even by those who will arrive
when we are no more. And we are so vain that the esteem of five or six
people who surround us amuses us and renders us content." --Blaise Pascal (tr. Jason Boone, the epigram to his 2002 poem, "Ho There, Raise Up the Tommy Lift!")*

Justin E. H. Smith "We are so presumptuous as to
wish to be known by all the world and even by those who will arrive
when we are no more. And we are so vain that the esteem of five or six
people who surround us amuses us and renders us content." --Blaise Pascal (tr. Jason Boone, the epigram to his 2002 poem, "Ho There, Raise Up the Tommy Lift!")*

The Internet has long adhered to one basic principle: Nobody's in charge.

That hallmark owes to the Internet's grand design. It's basically a global confederation of unrelated computers, making it impervious to hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters. Hackers regularly attack, but can't shut it down. Governments, try as they might, also can't control it.

That doesn't mean the Internet is meddle-proof.

Comcast Corp. announced Thursday it plans to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal for $13.75 billion, giving the nation's largest cable TV operator control of the Peacock network, an array of cable channels and a major movie studio.

Although the deal could mean that movies could reach cable more quickly after showing in theaters, and that TV shows could appear faster on cell phones and other devices, it was already raising concerns that Comcast would wield too much power over entertainment.

by Manisha Verma

Republican opposition is mounting as federal regulators prepare to vote this month on so-called "network neutrality" rules, which would prohibit broadband providers from favoring or discriminating against certain types of Internet traffic flowing over their lines.

Twenty House Republicans -- including most of the Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Monday urging him to delay the Oct. 22 vote on his net neutrality plan.