It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online. I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value.
News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey • Describing the necessity to make a really smart and cool service incredibly lame and not awesome. Carey’s talking about Hulu, of course, and he hopes to see the company charge for some of the same content that’s available for free over the airwaves in 2010. However, it could get worse as time goes on – with the possibility of Comcast taking over NBC Universal, they could stick an even deeper fork into one of big media’s best forays into the online world. Don’t screw this up, jerks. • source
If some company is too big to fail, then it’s too big to exist. Break it up.
New York Times op-ed columnist Bob Herbert • In an article titled “Safety Nets for the Rich,” about the phenomenon of companies “too big to fail.” Herbert argues that much money is being given to the rich instead of the poor, and it’s causing crazy situations like the financial bailout. Now that the economy’s starting to even out, perhaps it’s time to consider working on financial industry regulation. • source
Having had their hides saved by the Democratic party, it might be suggested that bailed-out firms might try to pat their backs in return in future elections. source
However, largely out of fear of further hurting their public image, many bailed-out firms are staying away from a Democratic fundraiser near Wall Street. source
Raj Rajaratnam gave as much as $5 million to a Tamil organization. The Sri Lankan-born billionaire at the center of the insider trading scandal on Wall Street may have helped the now-defeated Tamil Tigers on the side. U.S. records show that Rajaratnam gave $5 million to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, and that money could have made its way to the Tigers. Which, if true, could complicate his saintly reputation in his homeland. source