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tv   Business Briefing  BBC News  December 14, 2017 5:30am-5:46am GMT

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this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. who owns the internet? us regulators could rip up obama's rules on net neutrality later — giving broadband firms huge power over online traffic. plus, the empire scales back. fox prepares to sell its entertainment business to disney for around $60 billion. and on the markets it was another record close on the dow in the us as politicians finally agree a deal on tax reform — asian markets are currently mixed. we start in the us — where regulators could be about to scrap rules guaranteeing equal access to the internet — a principle known as ‘net neutrality‘.
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it was enshrined in law under president obama in 2015 — but under the trump administration it looks doomed following a huge battle in the business world. here's why. think of your internet service provider as a motorway. net neutrality means it's not allowed to set up ‘fast lanes' — giving faster access to some sites because they pay more. or deliberately slowing or blocking other sites that don't us telecoms giants like comcast, verizon and at&t have lobbied hard against it. they say: "the removal of antiquated, restrictive regulations will pave the way for broadband network investment, expansion and upgrades." but content firms like amazon and google say ditching the rules will give too much power to the telecoms — and will make it harder for new start—ups to compete. injuly they led more than 170 organisations in slowing down their services to protest the proposed change. the debate is going
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on all over the world. the countries in blue already have ‘net neutrality‘ — they make sure all traffic is treated equally. those in red are considering it. those in yellow have no rules at the moment. it‘s a big issue — but are people aware of it? our us technology team has been trying to find out have you heard of it before? no. the more you pay for internet, the more you've got the past year and it will work. i do not know anything about neutrality. companies like commcast or the other internet providers are going to put a higher premium. ijust heard the term. it's so corporations can make it slower to connect to certain sites. i did see the piece onjohn oliver but i don‘t remember. in india they have tried to do this
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also had a lot of people don't like it. all internet traffic is treated the same matter where it‘s come from, where it‘s going or what it‘s doing. that‘s something we call net neutrality. internet service providers might be able to intentionally slow down your internet connection unless you pay more for things like video streaming or they warn that could be some kind of internet fast lane where big rich companies could pay to make sure their sites loaded quickly while other smaller sites would be stuck in a slow lane instead. 0k, interesting. it should be fair and equal for all. basically, it's taking down our freedoms. the same amount, it shouldn't be different different websites. as far as larger companies being able to pay more to have
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access to your content little easier, i‘m not sure i agree with that. it's the internet. everybody should have access and actually have the same speed no matter what side you are looking at all going to. let‘s stay in the us — and an empire that has taken media tycoon rupert murdoch 65 years to build — could soon be broken up. we‘re expecting 21st century fox to announce it‘s selling its film, tv and international businesses to walt disney — which owns the star wars franchise — in an all share deal worth at least $60 billion. fox will refocus on its news and sport operations. both conglomerates have been challenged by the rise of streaming services like netflix that have hit cable tv subscriptions. with me is guy bisson, research director at ampere analysis. good to see you. we have spoken
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about this for several days now, ever since com cast pulled out. we expect confirmation today. what is your take on the deal? it is worth starting by quantifying the magnitude of this deal and the direction and indication of where hollywood is heading. we are talking about combined entity is with a turnover of around $70 billion. a 30% share of the box office at the cinema and huge content asset. like all good hollywood stories, there is all good hollywood stories, there is a plot and a subplot. the main plot is around control of content. the subplot is the distribution of the content. is this happening in reaction to netflix and how netflix is changing how the industry works? very much it is about positioning for where the industry is going to
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be in for where the industry is going to beina for where the industry is going to be in a few years time. netflix is definitely a marker for that. be in a few years time. netflix is definitely a markerfor that. in perspective, the combined entity will be ten times the size of netflix in terms of turnover. in that case i would assume there are issues in terms of regulation and competition? potentially. is more content combination so it is not a distribution control element beyond sky. generally where we feed problems is control of infrastructure and the fact that the news bid is being separated out gives it a little more plurality. yes it will come under intense scrutiny because you are talking about one of the six major studios being absorbed into another and, as i say, about 30% control of the box office. as deals go it will be a straightforward one. obviously within the industry, with the impact
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on netflix and others, there will be a big impact. forviewers on netflix and others, there will be a big impact. for viewers and consumers, or will we be better off? will we get more for less? it is how disney uses the combination. what they have been talking about his pulling the content of netflix from the next year and launching their own platform. if they gain control, even more control of content i think that process will be accelerated. we could see a mega netflix controlled by disney that goes global, controls its own content, controls its own distribution and lea pfrogs its own content, controls its own distribution and leapfrogs the business model in the direction netflix has shown it is heading. we are out of time but thank you so much. we could not even speak about the murdoch empire and the changes for him. there is so much more on this story on our website and we expect the announcement at some point today. when we do here, we will update you on bbc news. the us federal reserve has
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raised its key interest rate by another quarter of a% — to a range of between 1.25 and i.50%. the fed also boosted its growth forecast for the us economy for this year and next. but it kept to its existing prediction of three more rate hikes next year. as our us business reporter yogita limaye explains it was confidence in steady economic growth here in the us where you see over 3% growth. also a good labour market. unemployment is at a 17 year low and those were the main reasons behind the rate hike. this is the fifth rate hike overall since the financial crisis and the third this year. importa ntly, financial crisis and the third this year. importantly, the focus this time on the fact that it was the last press conference forjanet yellen as chair of the federal reserve. there will be another meeting in january reserve. there will be another meeting injanuary but reserve. there will be another meeting in january but this reserve. there will be another meeting injanuary but this will be the last time she will be answering questions on monetary policy.
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that move from the fed has been quickly followed in china and hong kong. let‘s go to our asia business hub where rico hizon is following the story. what is happening over there?m looks like china and hong kong did not waste any time in hiking interest rates. the people‘s bank of china hiked short—term interest rates by ten business points. that was expected, as authorities want to contain this rapid buildup in debt. as for hong kong, they were the first to move today, hiking their base rate by 25 points, one quarter of i%. they are now at i.75%. hong kong tracks us rate moves because its currency is pinned to the us dollar. they followed south korea to raise interest rates. squeeze in
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some other business stories now. us republican lawmakers have agreed to a deal paving the way for the biggest overhaul of the country‘s tax system in 30 years, — according to us media reports. separate bills passed by the house and the senate must be merged into one for president trump to sign into law. reports suggest the plan would bring the us corporate tax rate down to 21% from the current 35%. representatives of 164 countries in the world trade organization have failed to reach any agreement at a biennial meeting in argentina. the event was targeted as usual by anti—globalisation protesters. the wto is also facing a new challenge — from the protectionist policies of the trump administration and now — what‘s trending in the business news this morning... there‘s a huge amount of discussion about the threat to net neutrality — from wired — fcc plan to kill net neutrality rules could hurt students. from the wall streetjournal, yellen: no big differences between her, powell on bank rules.
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it says the outgoing fed chief doesn‘t think her successor will relax regulation on banks and from bloomberg — emerging markets shrug off crises for best gains in eight years and don‘t forget — let us know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. let‘s have a quick look at the markets in asia. another record close for the dow on wall street. that rate three with tax changes boosted sentiment in the us. that has not carried through into asia. ignore the japanese figure, it is down but not by that much. we have a glitch with our figures injapan. down but not by that much. we have a glitch with ourfigures injapan. i was here shortly the news briefing. here in the uk, british doctors say
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they have achieved ‘mind—blowing‘ results in an attempt to rid patients of haemophilia a. the genetic defect means blood cannot clot — so small cuts could lead to heavy bleeding. the research team used gene therapy to correct the defect in a small trial. here‘s our health and science correspondent james gallagher. walking two miles to work used to be unthinkable to jake. he was born with haemophilia a, a genetic defect that means is blood did not plot. the slightest injury used to mean severe bleeding. even along straw would cause bleeding in hisjoints. but no more. the gene therapy has given me a new lease of life. it will allow me to be a lot more active with my boys as they grow up.
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kick footballs, ru na round active with my boys as they grow up. kick footballs, runaround on the part, climbed trees, and not be someone part, climbed trees, and not be someone who has to worry what i am doing. jake was one of 13 patients given pioneering gene therapy last year. a virus was used to give his body new genetic instructions for clotting blood. all of the trial patients are often haemophilia medication and 11 have roughly normal levels of blood clotting proteins. this is huge. it is groundbreaking. the option to think about normalising levens in patients with severe haemophilia is mind blowing. to offer people the potential of a normal life, they have had to inject themselves every other day to prevent bleeding and this is transformational. studies will now take place to see gene therapy can replace regular injections. and truly transform the lives of patients. coming up at 6am on breakfast, charlie and naga will have
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all the day‘s news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: more desperate migrants have been rescued from the mediterranean. it comes as european leaders meet to discuss the crisis. a memorial service will take place in london laterfor all those killed in the grenfell tower fire. 71 people died in the disaster. for the first time, a possible death toll in the rohingya crisis. 0ne charity says nearly 7,000 people were killed. who owns the internet? us regulators could rip up 0bama‘s rules on net neutrality later, giving broadband firms huge power over online traffic. now it‘s time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world.
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we begin with the daily telegraph with brexit latest. its headline is: it comes after 11 of theresa may‘s mp defied their party by voting through an amendment to the eu withdrawal bill. the financial times has new estimates on the fallout of brexit on banks. it‘s conducted its own analysis and says the big international banks are set to move fewer than 4,600 jobs away from london, around 6% of their total workforce. we‘ll go to reuters online for news on us tax reform. it says congressional republicans reached a deal on wednesday for the biggest tax overhaul in 30 years.

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