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from: National Journal

Lawmakers Ponder Promise Of Web Video

By Andrew Noyes

(Thursday, May 10) Billionaire dot-com veteran Mark Cuban told lawmakers that the Internet has matured in recent years, but warned that unless there is significant investment, further technological and economic advancements will be hampered.

There is "plenty of bandwidth and upside for the backbone of the Internet," he said at a House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee hearing. But online video in particular is "only as good as its weakest link" and "right now, with limited exceptions, those links are pretty weak," he said.

Cuban, who is chairman of the high-definition television cable network HDNet, said the vast majority of high-speed Internet users in the United States connect through coaxial cable or copper wiring. Those pipes are limited in their capacity, and by the networks to which they can be attached and the distances over which they can deliver bits, he said.

Network neutrality, the concept of mandating equal treatment of Internet content, is an example of how constrained bandwidth creates conflict between consumer and broadband provider interests, Cuban said. "The issue goes away completely if bandwidth constraints go away," he said at the fifth in a series of hearings examining digital innovation.

Some argue that Internet video will replace traditional television using peer-to-peer technology, "but that will not happen," Cuban predicted. P2P does not reduce the bandwidth needed to serve video, and it moves the traffic from the Internet backbone to the individual user, he added.

In response to a question from Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, the subcommittee's ranking Republican, Cuban said the Internet cannot currently stream lengthy, high-quality video on a mass scale.

"The costs are declining, but the reality is the amount you can deliver is limited by the last mile," he said. Fiber-to-the-home connections will permit "HD as you know it today," as well as enhanced HD programming down the road, Cuban added.

Panel Chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass., said that when he chaired his first hearing on HDTV many years ago, the platform was far from ready. "Now we can see a light at the end of the tunnel, or rather, at the end of the tuner," he said.

Sling Media Chief Executive Officer Blake Krikorian, whose device lets users watch their home televisions from anywhere they have Web access, praised a provision of copyright law that also has created a stir on Capitol Hill. "Thank heaven for the notion of fair use that allowed us to create this company from the beginning," he said.

Benjamin Pyne, president of affiliate sales for Disney and ESPN Networks, spoke to the persistent piracy problem online. While there is not a silver-bullet solution, his firm has learned that "bringing products to market on a well-timed, well-priced basis" is crucial, Pyne said.

Disney has been a pioneer in that arena, forging partnerships with Apple Inc.'s iTunes e-music store and streaming extensive video on ABC.com and through other branded media players. "Getting the balance right between convenience and pricing is a challenge facing all of us who create and distribute digital content," Pyne said.

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., emphasized the importance of "an open Internet" because "we cannot afford to sit on old platforms and old ideas."

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley agreed, saying that the lack of Web gatekeepers lets consumers create, view and distribute media on his video-sharing site and countless other outlets for online entertainment.