Connected consumer first-quarter 2013: Analysis and outlook

Table of Contents

  1. Summary
  2. Copyright reform
  3. Used goods
  4. Paying to aggregate
  5. Content is the new king of OTT
  6. Intel’s big bet
  7. Near-term outlook
  8. Key takeaways
  9. About Paul Sweeting

1. Summary

Many long-standing legal rules of engagement between publishers and consumers tilted the playing field in unexpected ways in the first quarter. The period also saw a major expansion in the amount and quality of original productions for web-based video platforms and a major move by chipmaker Intel to stake a claim in the digital living room.

Among the highlights from the quarter:

  • Both the White House and the U.S. Register of Copyrights endorsed far-reaching changes to U.S. copyright law as it applies to digital formats while the European Union began a formal process of reviewing and revising the rights of content creators and users.
  • A pair of patent applications revealed that Amazon and Apple are each contemplating establishing online marketplaces for the sale of used digital goods while a federal court in New York threw the whole idea into doubt with a ruling in a closely watched case.
  • In Europe, Google found itself forced into legal settlements to pay publishers, albeit indirectly, for the right to link to their content in search results.
  • Web-based productions are becoming a big business in Hollywood as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and others pour big money into original productions.
  • Intel is developing what would be the most ambitious over-the-top (OTT) video platform yet with a new broadband-delivered service that combines linear and on-demand programming, social networking, web content, and apps into a single user interface.

This quarterly wrap-up discusses these developments and also offers trends and topics to watch for the remainder of 2013 and beyond.

Full content available to GigaOm Subscribers.

Sign Up For Free