Sprint began selling the Sierra Wireless 4G LTE Tri-Fi Hotspot May 18. A first, the Tri-Fi can link users to three connectivity options: 3G, Long-Term Evolution and WiMax. Where there isn't a WiFi connection, devices like the Tri-Fi offer users a way not only to hop online but to connect multiple devices: It's becoming not unusual to see support offered for up to 10 devices. With all major carriers investing in 4G LTE rollouts to support increasing data demands, Verizon Wireless and AT&T have already announced they'll soon be offering data-sharing plans, and that the industry is moving toward a new sort of metric, where revenue is tallied not by the user but by account. The thinking is that each account will be tied to multiple devices, all sipping at a single, set allotment of data. An account could be held by a single user, a family or even a small business. With shared plans, users wouldn't need separate data plans for tablets—which would encourage more people to connect them using more than just WiFi, to the carriers' delight—or for hotspots. Inspired by the Tri-Fi, eWEEK rounded up a few of its competitors to take a look at what the options are, as more people get away from their desks and head outdoors this summer.
9,000 O2 customers face porn company money shot - Crave
If you've been a naughty boy, something's about to fill your slot that'll leave you moaning. A letter, that is, from porn-peddler Ben Dover, demanding compensation if you're suspected of pirating adult movies.
British adult entertainment company Ben Dover Productions, also known as Golden Eye International, is tossing off letters to the users of 9,124 IP addresses on O2, accusing them of illegally downloading blue movies and begging to be satisfied.
The porn company won a court order in March that forced O2 to shoot over the details of customers who may have downloaded pirated copies of its films.
The smut-mongers will now write to the people associated with those IP addresses, after the High Court has approved the intended text of the letter. A judge toned down the language of the first letter, which the company says will "seek to find out more information regarding evidence of an infringement of our copyright."
The judge blocked the company from threatening users that O2 would "slow down or terminate your internet connection." Golden Eye was also banned from demanding a £700 money shot from each user. Instead, each user has the opportunity to dispute the claim, as the court acknowledges that an IP address cannot necessarily be tied to a person.
If they admit it, users must individually negotiate a settlement. And if they do not respond within 28 days, they could be found liable, which would be quite a blow.
The company claims it's been pounded hard by piracy -- harder even than mainstream movies, because pirates cannot replicate the cinematic experience. The company is also chasing websites that it argues encourage online piracy, as well as pirates of physical DVDs.
Is this the right way to address piracy, whether of porn or any other types of movie and media? Go down in the comments and tell me your thoughts, or come hither to our Facebook page.
O2 Porn Sharers Set For Legal Rogering From Ben Dover - techweekeurope.co.uk
Porn pusher Ben Dover has won a court case that will see suspected illegal downloaders of his films threatened with legal action.
The High Court has approved the text of a letter which will be sent out to over 9,000 O2 broadband customers who might have illegally shared adult films made by Ben Dover Productions.
The pornographers won a court order in March, forcing the ISP to disclose details of IP addresses linked to alleged copyright infringement. The company is planning to send the O2 customers letters threatening court action unless a settlement is reached.
However, because of the particularities of the case and the company’s previous experience in “speculative invoicing”, the text of the letters had to be agreed in court.
Deny everything
Ben Dover Productions, owned by Golden Eye International, was founded by British adult actor, director and producer Ben Dover, also known as Lindsay Honey. This is not the first time his company has cracked down on alleged copyright infringement.
It was later alleged that the campaign was targeting innocent individuals and that the speculative invoicing relied on the embarrassment of those targeted agreeing to the fine to avoid the threatened court action, regardless of whether they were guilty or not.
In March, Golden Eye went to court in an attempt to obtain the details of over 9,124 IP addresses from internet service provider O2. The High Court ruled that the ISP must hand over their details, but threw out another 12 claims.
The juge also deemed the proposed £700 fine to be “unsupported and unsupportable”, telling the company to individually negotiate a settlement sum with each defendant.
Because IP addresses can be shared, faked and hijacked, they cannot serve as reliable evidence. Hence, the bill payer cannot automatically be assumed to be guilty of any alleged copyright violation, and therefore any claim made by Ben Dover Productions couldn’t move forward unless the recipient of the company’s spectulative invoicing letters admitted their own guilt.
This is why “precise wording of the order and of the letter of claim” had to be decided at a court hearing. Suspected sharers of the X-rated material will be given 28 days to reply after the judge called a 14-day limit requested by Ben Dover “unreasonable”.
“In our first letter we seek to find out more information regarding evidence of an infringement of our copyright,” spokesman Julian Becker told the BBC. “Depending on the response to our letters we will then decide our next action.”
A statement from O2 said: “We are pleased that the court has taken a robust approach and controlled the tone and content of the letter Golden Eye proposes to send to our customers. We are also pleased that the judge acknowledged the unique position we are in, and agreed that we have approached this issue in a reasonable way.”
Arrgh! How much do you know about online piracy? Take our quiz!
KPN Said to Weigh German Wireless Merger With Telefonica - Bloomberg
Royal KPN NV (KPN) and Telefonica SA (TEF) are considering ways to merge their German units, a move that would create the country’s top mobile-phone operator by customers.
The companies are evaluating a variety of options, including a combination of Telefonica’s O2 Germany unit and KPN’s E-Plus, the two smaller of the nation’s four operators, said two people with knowledge of the matter, declining to be identified as the discussions are private. The companies are considering selling a stake in a German entity as part of an initial public offering, one of the people said.
A merger could help KPN, which said today it had begun a strategy review of E-Plus, to fend off an unsolicited 2.6 billion-euro ($3.2 billion) offer for a stake by Carlos Slim’s America Movil SAB. (AMXL) Telefonica this week received approval from its board to hold an initial share sale for O2 Germany as the Madrid-based company speeds up attempts to cut its net debt of more than 57 billion euros.
“The combination would create significant synergies,” said Henri Alexaline, a fixed-income investor who helps manage $1 billion at London-based FM Capital Partners Ltd. “The key hurdle would be how to remedy antitrust concerns but looking at Vodafone’s current reach it does not look like a deal breaker.”
Synergies
O2 Germany and E-Plus would have a combined mobile-phone client base of 41.7 million in the country, based on information from the company’s websites. That compares with Vodafone Group Plc (VOD)’s 36.5 million local mobile customers and Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE)’s 35.1 million wireless clients in Germany.
KPN acting Chief Financial Officer Eric Hageman said today that consolidation in the German market could generate 4 billion euros in synergies. Chief Executive Officer Eelco Blok said as recently as in November that Telefonica was “not willing” to sell. He declined to comment today on whether KPN is in talks with Telefonica.
“A combination of businesses of some kind would make a lot of sense,” said Francisco Salvador, a Madrid-based strategist at FGA/MG Valores. “It would boost the operators’ market share and would allow them to obtain significant synergies while ruling out any potential problems with licenses to offer services in the country.”
Telefonica, whose stock is down 33 percent this year, last week had it debt rating cut by Standard & Poor’s as the Spanish banking crisis accelerated the company’s loss of phone customers to discounters.
Debt Rating
KPN rose 0.1 percent to 7.65 euros in Amsterdam after earlier surging as much as 2.1 percent. Telefonica rose 0.8 percent to 9 euros in Madrid. The Spanish operator has a market value of 41.4 billion euros, compared with 110 billion euros in 2007.
A spokesman for Telefonica declined to comment on whether the companies are considering combining their German businesses.
America Movil this week began a 2.6 billion-euro offer to increase its stake in The Hague, Netherlands-based KPN. Telefonica’s finance chief, Angel Vila, told an investor conference in London yesterday that Telefonica has no plan to make a counter bid for KPN, according to two people who attended the meeting, who asked not to be identified because the meeting is private.
Telefonica CEO Cesar Alierta, with his company’s net debt greater than its market value, is turning to some of Telefonica’s most valuable assets for cash.
Slim’s Offer
Alierta bought mobile-phone operator O2 Plc for $31.5 billion in 2006 to add wireless units in the U.K., Ireland and Germany in his biggest acquisition. Germany is now Telefonica’s second-largest market in Europe and may be valued at as much as 9 billion euros, according to Citigroup Inc. (C)
KPN had 23 million mobile customers in Germany at the end of the first quarter. Frank Claassen, an analyst at Rabobank International, estimates E-Plus is worth about 8.5 billion euros, though with cost savings through a merger, that could rise to 10 billion euros.
Telefonica said this week it will explore share sales for O2 Germany and its Latin American businesses. The prospect of owning a minority stake in the No. 3 of four mobile operators in Germany, a market with more handsets than people, has left investors unconvinced.
Boris Boehm, who helps manage 1.1 billion euros including Telefonica shares at Aramea Asset Management in Hamburg, says the IPO plans aren’t helped by the fact that the operator’s need for cash is too obvious.
Poker Game
“If everyone knows that Telefonica needs money out of the IPO, I would say it’s not a wise idea,” he said, adding that he wouldn’t be interested in buying O2 Germany’s stock. “It’s like in a poker game, if everyone knows what your cards are, it’s not a good game to play.”
German mobile-phone subscriptions rose 4.8 percent in 2011, compared with growth of 5.6 percent in all of Europe, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Industries. Wireless penetration reached 139 percent in 2011 compared with 130.3 percent for the region.
Heinrich Ey, a fund manager at Allianz Global Investors in Frankfurt, which manages about 300 billion euros including Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom shares, said the Spanish company had to “rush and react” after S&P’s cut and Slim’s KPN bid.
“The big question down the road is on consolidation,” he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jacqueline Simmons at jackiem@bloomberg.net Manuel Baigorri in Madrid at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net
KPN, Telefonica Said to Weigh German Merger as Slim Prowls
Jock Fistick/Bloomberg
A selection of smartphones sit on display inside a Royal KPN NV store.
A selection of smartphones sit on display inside a Royal KPN NV store. Photographer: Jock Fistick/Bloomberg
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