Can Hulu Come in the Open
Skies?
While
these new hybrid services – Web-on-TV, TV-on-Web, Radio-on-Web, etc. –
are proliferating, they’re giving a new definition to the Internet. In
fact, the fundamental nature of the Internet that allows it to be
ubiquitous, defying all geographical demarcations, is being challenged.
By
Rakesh Raman
Take Hulu.com, for example.
Hulu is an online video service that offers TV shows and
movies at Hulu.com. It was founded in 2007 by NBC Universal and News
Corp.
When you try to access it
from, say, New Delhi, India (I live here), it only shows you its
homepage, and then displays a regret message like this:
Sorry,
currently our video library can only be streamed from within the United
States.
Hulu is
committed to making its content available worldwide. To do so, we must
work through a number of legal and business issues, including obtaining
international streaming rights. Know that we are working to make this
happen and will continue to do so. Given the international background of
the Hulu team, we have both a professional and personal interest in
bringing Hulu to a global audience.
If you'd
like, please leave us your email address and the region in which you
live, and we will email you when our videos are available in your area.
Another
example: It calls itself Pandora Internet Radio.
But when you try it on the Internet – from, say, India – it won’t sing,
saying:
Dear
Pandora Visitor,
We are
deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no
longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S.
We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly
global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its
use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other
alternative.
This is, in
fact, another type of censorship that restricts content availability
across the Internet space. Countries like China, North Korea, Iran, and
about a dozen more – labeled as Enemies of the Internet – don’t allow
free Internet use because of their closed cultures and political
systems. And most ban unlawful content that can instigate anti-national
or subversive activities in those nations.
However,
countries like India and U.S.A. are among the biggest democracies, which
are supposed to show respect for free expression and speech. And
online services like Hulu and Pandora would carry only entertainment
content that can be consumed by all. Then why should they be shackled?
Internet is
Internet. There’s nothing like local Internet. So any online information
service on the Internet should be freely available everywhere. If it’s
available in a local area only, then it’s not based on Internet. Then
it’s being delivered on a dedicated network, which can’t be termed as
Internet.
Though proxy
websites and other means are there to access banned and close-door
websites and bypass such restrictions. But there’s no point using
Internet like a thief.
So, will the
proponents of open and free cyber space pitch in to help keep Internet
qualities intact, and enable services like Hulu and Pandora to fly in the
open skies?
Rakesh Raman
is the managing
editor of My Techbox Online.
