Great article on Netflix's rise & impact on the industry

From today's NYT:

"As a business, Netflix is gaining momentum and blowing through the stock market’s expectations. It has a market value of $26 billion, a share price that has more than doubled in the last year, and it now has 33.4 million subscribers in the United States, five million more than HBO has domestically. Early this month, Netflix borrowed $400 million to finance an aggressive expansion in Europe. “House of Cards” was one of the big stories in television last year, and its highly anticipated second season was released with much fanfare on Friday."

Great example of how competition is good for the consumer! 

Reminder: I'm available this week (via telephone) if you have questions

My office hours are typically on Tuesday, but since the university was closed on Tuesday, I wanted to remind folks that if you have questions, email me. I can try and help via email, or we can set up a phone call if you prefer. Either way, I'm here to help! 

Test is next Monday, February 17. 

Links to Lessig Readings are fixed, FYI.

Either head to my previous post or simply click here. Apologies for any inconvenience. 

Internet Policy & Regulation Prezi

Download a PDF of the lecture here. 

The Interesting Case of Aereo

I'm going to talk about Aereo in today's discussion of broadcast and cable regulations. Aereo is an innovative and disruptive company that exploits a loophole in copyright broadcast law to retransmit network programming to users via their personal computers. Here is a great article (via NYT) summarizing the company, the legal issues involved and what's at stake. 

If you have a chance, give the article a look before class. How do you think the court should decide?

Cable & Broadcast Regulations Prezi

PDF version here. 

Update & Readings

First, just wanted to say thank you for two terrific sessions so far this semester. I've had fun, and though we've stayed the entire time allotted, I hope you have found the course interesting and enjoyable. If you are having any trouble at all, or have questions, please reach out to me early so that I can be as helpful as possible. 

Second, as I pleaded yesterday, please please please buy your text book ASAP (if you haven't already). Follow the link from the syllabus page to buy it on Amazon, or check out the GSU bookstore. I strongly encourage you to read the assigned chapter or chapters before we discuss them in class. Reading ahead of class makes the content much easier to digest and understand, increasingly your ability to do well on the tests. I've taught this class for several years, and the most important variable in determining a student's grade is whether or not she/he read the text before the class lecture. 

Third, I wanted to post the assigned readings that are not included in the text book: Lessig 2002 and Lessig 1999. 

Our first test is a few weeks away (Feb 17) and will cover the introductory lecture and readings, copyright, broadcast and cable regulation and internet policy (Hopkins chapters 1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12 and the two Lessig readings posted above). 

Thanks, again, for a great start to the semester. Looking forward to next Monday. Stay warm! 

Copyright Prezi (Jan 27, 2014)

PDF version here. 

Prezi for "Introduction to Media Law" (Jan 13, 2014)

PDF version here. 

Welcome Spring 2014 Students!

Hello! Welcome to the website for Dr. Powers' J3060 course. We meet Mondays from 430-700 PM in Langdale 621. Check out the syllabus here and the class schedule here. The only required text for my class is Communication and the Law (2014). Go ahead and order it now so that you have it in time for the start of classes. I'm looking forward to a terrific semester with you all, and hope that you are too.