Wednesday News: Net neutrality ruling, James Frey is back, a Pride and Prejudice proposal, BBC Map series, and an author attends his own book’s discussion
Publishing NewsBarnes & Noble / Book-club / broadband access / FCC / Hunger Games / James-Frey / maps / medieval / net neutrality9 Comments
Appeals court strikes down FCC’s Net neutrality rules – In this long-awaited — and some say disastrous — ruling on a case filed by Verizon against the FCC, the federal appeals court has ruled that the FCC does not have authority under the so-called Open Internet rules rules to tell broadband providers how to regulate traffic on their networks. Although the court did concede that the FCC has some authority to regulate broadband access, they held that the FCC had gone too far by trying to ensure that all broadband providers offer the same speed to their customers (e.g. they cannot throttle or increase speed for different customers). This is, in part, because the FCC has not classified broadband providers as common carriers, and yet imposed rules as if they were.
“Another fear among Net neutrality supporters is that broadband providers could create tiers of service that would require Internet companies trying to reach their customers over this infrastructure to pay a fee for a certain quality of service. For example, Amazon may pay Verizon to prioritize its traffic to ensure that its streaming services get a better quality of service or so that its Web pages load more quickly. Net neutrality supporters say such a system would relegate smaller Internet companies, which cannot afford to pay for priority service, to a slower and less reliable Internet. These Net neutrality advocates say this will stifle innovation.” CNET News
James Frey scores with book-movie deal; Google mysteriously involved – There’s something almost perverse about the fact that James Frey is now making money off the young adult market, and it’s going to be interesting to see if his latest project survives without a serious legal challenge from, well, anyone with any intellectual rights to the Hunger Games books and films. HarperCollins has acquired Frey’s new book, Endgame, and 20th Century Fox has secured film rights. And then there’s some bait being thrown out about some mysterious Google angle that’s yet to be revealed.
“Paul Constant, books editor at Seattle’s the Stranger, tweeted, ‘James Frey is still terrible, and he’s still being rewarded for it. His Hunger Games ripoff sold for $2 million.’ Writer Sarah Weinman followed by tweeting, ‘Suzanne Collins’ people should be looking at this with a very, very fine-toothed comb.'” Los Angeles Times
Amazing “Pride and Prejudice”-Themed Proposal – Given the feedback the wedding jumpsuit got the other day, you may enjoy this pictorial narrative of a P&P proposal in contemporary Tacoma, Washington. The boyfriend (now fiancé) arranged the entire thing, surprising his girlfriend (now fiancee) with an elaborate dramatization of their own engagement, through the words of Jane Austen. It’s pretty cute (although too bad they didn’t release a video). Yahoo Shine
BBC The Beauty of Maps (part 1 of 4 Medieval Maps Mapping the Medieval Mind) – Whenever we talk about authenticity in Historical Romance, we must address questions of cultural context, which includes the collective mindset of a particular time and place. Thinking evolves over time, and while there are similarities across historical moments, there are also significant differences. This BBC series on maps is a great illustration (har har) of that. The original BBC site is here, but depending on where you are, it may be easier to watch on YouTube. YouTube
I Read You Loud and Clear – Novelist Kevin Baker decided to attend a book club meeting at a New York Barnes & Noble, thinking that he would be listening to people talk flatteringly about his own book, Dreamland. Instead, Baker sat amongst a group of people whose honest opinions about his work pretty much killed his fantasy. It seems to be an honestly written, amusingly humbled piece.
“The night the club was to meet, I showed up early, thinking I’d introduce myself at the start and ask if they wanted me there or not. But it was an informal setting, and it just felt too pompous to pop up and exclaim, “Hello, I’m the author!” I decided to wait until we were all supposed to introduce ourselves. I’d identify myself then, quietly reveling in the murmurs of surprise and delight that were sure to follow when they discovered the great man himself was among them.” New York TImes
Is there any hope left for net neutrality or is this ruling the end of the line?
James Frey is an ethical swamp but the hand wringing over this is ridiculous. “Teenagers compelled to fight to the death in a futuristic dystopia” wasn’t original when Collins wrote it, it was the world and characters she built around it that made it hers. Frey’s universe doesn’t sound anything like Panem – the secrecy is different for one thing, and it doesn’t sound like these are fights being broadcast. If Collins’ people are going to go after every Hunger Games derivative YA they’d better get a comfy chair, they’re going to be there a while.
@ Janine, it’s an appeals court so if a higher court accepts a challenge to the ruling than it can go up the chain. I’m not sure what court it would be in that case, and so far SCOTUSblog hasn’t mentioned the case.
I find it fascinating that James Frey still sells books, let alone signing a movie deal. How close is his book to Hungergames? I haven’t read either so this is the first I’ve heard about it.
@Gloria: The Frey book honestly doesn’t sound that similar to The Hunger Games to me.
As much as I dislike Frey, his book doesn’t sound anymore like a Hunger Games ripoff than Hunger Games was a Battle Royale ripoff. Similar basic idea (which we all know is fair game) executed in its own way. Besides, at this point in publishing, even if Frey’s book was Hunger Games fan fiction would anyone really care?
Hmm. The Hunger Games vs. Endgame.
Both have twelve districts, both are set in a world similar to earth. Both have “game” in the title, and each premise has teen fighters who battle to the death. Collins has a lottery to pick the winners, or the warriors. I wonder what Frey uses?
I’d say Frey and the movie studio backing the book want to see if they can funnel some of those Hunger Games big dollars their way. If they succeed, it will be looked at as a smart move. Unfortunately, they also risk being compared to that blockbuster franchise in not only the plot, but the strength of the young actors they pick for the leads. Which may not be such a good thing, especially if it gets panned.
I wonder if “Endgame” has a female champion, or if Frey went with a male lead?
Anyway, some argue that Collin’s book is similar to a Japanese movie where kids on an island fight to the death, called Battle Royale.
http://kotaku.com/5896673/before-there-was-the-hunger-games-japan-had-this
Granted that the Baker article was amusing, but it was still pretty skeevy behavior on his part.
Comcast/Xfinity has been charging different rates for better internet service for some time now. For an extra $20/month, you supposedly get 2x internet speeds. I’m not willing to pay and never noticed a difference when I received the premium service as a 3 month bonus. Also not convinced my neighborhood’s outdated infrastructure supports the different speeds any way.
Not a fan of the idea of bigger companies being able to pay for premium service to help feed traffic to their already bloated sites.
@Lada: Net Neutrality isn’t about whether or not consumers have choices of different overall speeds, it’s about whether or not everything you choose to access on the plan you pay for has the same delivery speed (e.g. Comcast could choose to put Netflix in a slow lane while they cut a deal with Amazon for the fast lane, or vice-a-versa).