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The Telecom Digest for Oct 31, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 194 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
How Apple Pay and Google Wallet actually work (Monty Solomon)
Aereo, FilmOn hopes rise again as FCC moves to redefine MVPDs (Neal McLain)
Hackers swipe e-mail addresses from Apple Pay-competitor CurrentC (Monty Solomon)

I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies in a fight. But my friends, my goddamned friends, they're the ones who keep me walking the floor at nights!   - Warren G. Harding

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Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 22:47:29 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: How Apple Pay and Google Wallet actually work Message-ID: <6EE2F417-D031-4CA8-827B-8F51AC7ECC54@roscom.com> It's hard to have a meaningful discussion about Apple Pay (iOS' most recent foray into mobile payments) and Google Wallet (Android's three-year-old platform that's had tepid success) without talking about how the systems actually work. And to talk about how those systems work, we have to know how credit card charges work. We took an iPhone 6 out and found that mobile payments have grown up - a little. It seems like a simple thing, especially in the US - swipe your card, wait a second or two for authorization, walk out of the store with your goods. But the reality is that a complicated system of different companies handles all that transaction information before your receipt ever gets printed. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/10/how-mobile-payments-really-work/
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 20:10:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Aereo, FilmOn hopes rise again as FCC moves to redefine MVPDs Message-ID: <691affa3-14a2-483e-9a2d-de84b823ca07@googlegroups.com> By Samantha Bookman, FierceOnlineVideo, October 28, 2014 The FCC said it will look at updating rules that regulate cable systems, a move that could allow over-the-top providers to more easily deliver broadcast television over the Internet, rather than over the air or through closed cable systems. Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Tuesday that says MVPDs, like other forms of communication, should be "technology-neutral." The FCC's new NPRM is raising the hopes of OTT providers like Aereo and FilmOn, which have struggled to convince the courts--and now regulators--that Internet-based video is a medium that's just as viable as cable and should have the same rights to license content as satellite and cable operators do. In a blog post announcing the proposal, Wheeler cited Congress' 1992 decision that gave satellite services such as DirecTV access to cable channels. "Today I am proposing to extend the same concept to the providers of linear, Internet-based services; to encourage new video alternatives by opening up access to content previously locked on cable channels," Wheeler wrote. http://www.fierceonlinevideo.com/story/aereo-filmon-hopes-rise-again-fcc-moves-redefine-mvpds/2014-10-28?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal -or- http://tinyurl.com/kko2d74 I assume that Aereo and FilmOn are aware that even if FCC classifies them as MVPDs, they's still have to obtain retransmision consent from broadcasters. Broadcasters have been known of demand rather heafty sums of money. And other goodies such as carrying (and paying license fees for) co-owned non-broadcast channels. Neal McLain
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 22:46:18 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Hackers swipe e-mail addresses from Apple Pay-competitor CurrentC Message-ID: <6E2FFE02-6758-40E0-B60F-937AF51DC8C8@roscom.com> Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), a retailer-backed consortium, received a lot of attention this weekend when CVS and Rite Aid suddenly stopped accepting payments from systems like Google Wallet and Apple Pay. The two pharmacists reportedly made the move in solidarity with MCX, which is developing its own mobile payments system called CurrentC. CurrentC is set to launch in early 2015, although the app is already available. On Wednesday, however, people who signed up to be on the forefront of the CurrentC launch were sent an e-mail saying that their e-mail addresses had been stolen. http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/10/cvs-rite-aid-supported-alternative-to-apple-pay-already-hacked/

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