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Forums - Gaming - HBO Go Blocked on PS4 by Comcast, Just Like on PS3

binary solo on 10 March 2015
wilco said:
I'm definitely more pissed at HBO than I am at comcast. The whole subscription requirement was bs from the get go. Especially when they kind of subverted the tv providers by allowing people to share passwords. HBO needs to grow some balls and just dump that business model already. There are millions of people eager to throw money at them. Netflix did it without needing to align themselves with other companies, what is hbo so afraid of?

I'm certainly on board with that, because it then allows HBOGo to go international, even if you have to use Hola to get around any region blocking, which is what I do to access Netflix. Loving watching House of Cards from a safe website.



“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” - Bertrand Russell

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

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Wonktonodi on 10 March 2015
starcraft said:
Wonktonodi said:
starcraft said:
Guys this is a separate issue to net neutrality entirely.

There may be an argument that this violates competition rules, maybe not.

But net neutrality is about prioritizing different activity over ISP connections based on payments for preferential treatment - its more of a fundamental discussion about the right of people to have access to an equitable, fair and even internet.

net neu·tral·i·ty

noun
noun: net neutrality; noun: network neutrality
  1. the principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.

I think this is very clearly a net neutrality issue.

As sc94597 just outlined, you're confusing Comcast the cable company with Comcast the ISP.

Comcast the cable company has simply not permitted HBO Go to be delivered on competing devices. I think this is a dirty move, and I think it likely falls afoul of competition law.

But it isn't about net neutrality.

It's blocking internet content to certain products. It's not only the internet providers who can violate net neutrality.



sc94597 on 10 March 2015
theprof00 said:
sc94597 said:

Comcast would likely argue that they're not blocking a service, just that they're not providing one (you need to use your Comcast account with an HBO subscription.) Using your logic though, are video game exclusives anti-competitive? 

which is where net neutrality comes in.

Net Neutrality would only come in if a download was blocked.  You can still download and use the app if you have a  HBO subscription, which isn't through Comcast. Comcast is just refusing to allow their television subscribers to use their subscription which comcast sellsto  them, in the app by not putting the account information in as an option. The word, "block" was a misnomer. 



sc94597 on 10 March 2015
Wonktonodi said:
sc94597 said:
Wonktonodi said:


ISP internet Service Provide

 

Interesting point. Though with how large comcast is and howmuch it does, it's hard to say it's only cable. It's about online access to content being restricted by devices. While most people just think of net neutrality as the internet providers not blocking or messing with speeds of content to end usesers. The flip side to that is content providers not being able to lock out certain devices. I don't think people should be heald hostage because comcast wants to tripple dip. It's bad enough they dip twice. That's why I'd like them regulated like utilities.

Imagine power companies tripple dipping. You pay for your power. The companies that make the most energy get charged extra for the privalege of selling it to you, and all the manufacturers of devices in your home might need to pay so that your power company doesn't decide to block them from working in your home.


What is your opinion on HBO and Apple's agreement? HBO is providing a standalone subscription only for Apple devices. Does that violate net-neutrality? 



sc94597 on 10 March 2015

Basically, ask - if Comcast were not an internet service provider and only a cable company, could they still do this? The answer yes.



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theprof00 on 10 March 2015
sc94597 said:
theprof00 said:

which is where net neutrality comes in.

Net Neutrality would only come in if a download was blocked.  You can still download and use the app if you have a  HBO subscription, which isn't through Comcast. Comcast is just refusing to allow their television subscribers to use their subscription which comcast sellsto  them, in the app by not putting the account information in as an option. The word, "block" was a misnomer. 

Apologies. I read the rest of the thread and your points.

My question though is why isn't Comcast on the list.



sc94597 on 10 March 2015
theprof00 said:
sc94597 said:
theprof00 said:

which is where net neutrality comes in.

Net Neutrality would only come in if a download was blocked.  You can still download and use the app if you have a  HBO subscription, which isn't through Comcast. Comcast is just refusing to allow their television subscribers to use their subscription which comcast sellsto  them, in the app by not putting the account information in as an option. The word, "block" was a misnomer. 

Apologies. I read the rest of the thread and your points.

My question though is why isn't Comcast on the list.

Because they chose not to be. Just as HBO's standalone service won't be coming to PS4 (only for Apple devices) so did Comcast pick and choose which devices they want their subscription service to be on. I think it is a stupid business decision, because sales of their crappy boxes probably won't be anywhere enough to make up the loss of customers, but I guess they feel their consumer base is more inelastic than it really is. Having said that, I still think it is a competitive market. As the article noted, Verizon, Time Warner, AT&T, etc, etc support all HBO GO platforms. 



aLkaLiNE on 10 March 2015
sc94597 said:
aLkaLiNE said:

Glancing through these pages and I'm now under the impression that there's two separate arguments occurring because people aren't quite grasping the issue at hand.

So what I want to know, is this an A or B situation?

A) You are not signed up for HBO through Comcast, who provides your cable. You want to sign up for HBO Go as a standalone service (which is an app you can access through the internet on Smart TVs, smart box tops, consoles, web). Comcast also being your internet provider is not allowing you to access HBOGo by restricting your internet on non approved platforms (in this case PS4) because they want you to sign up for HBo through them as a cable company as opposed to signing up for the standalone HBO service.

Or B) You have HBO on your Comcast cable subscription. You aren't able to use your Comcast login info to access HBO Go on certain platforms (PS4)

I was initially under the impression that this was an A type scenario which would definitely be an issue of net neutrality in my honest opinion.


It is option B. Comcast isn't on the drop down list of television providers. You have a subscription to Comcast which includes HBO, but you can't use this subscription in the application. You can still download the application and if you had a Verizon, Time Warner, At&T, Cox, etc television provider you can sign in. It is the exact same thing HBO is doing with Apple. You can only watch HBO GO content using their standalone HBO service (no television provider needed) if you have an Apple device. 

 

What a joke lol. This isn't a net neutrality issue then, this is just Comcast being a douche



Wonktonodi on 10 March 2015
sc94597 said:


What is your opinion on HBO and Apple's agreement? HBO is providing a standalone subscription only for Apple devices. Does that violate net-neutrality? 

 

I think it's the result of comcast's behavior. I'm all for content providers cutting out the middle man. People being able to get HBO without a cable subscription is awsome. So in one way it excemplifies net nutrality. The fact that it's only avalable to people with at least one apple device bothers me were it to be a long term deal I'd also feel outraged, but it's not. One thing I read says it's a three month exclusive, Netflix was exclusive to the 360 for 1 year, then another year where a disk was required.



gooch_destroyer on 10 March 2015

Fuck off, comcast!