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Local View: The great Navigator Caper

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By HERB FRIEDMAN

Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 12:26:46 am CDT

In a world where our troops are dying overseas, and where there are serious social matters facing our nation, whether some digital cable users in Lincoln are deprived of a few hours of HD TV may seem insignificant.

To a person who is seriously wounded, or who has lost a love one, or is homeless, this issue will seem trivial, at best.

But a closer look at the issue indicates a far more sinister problem. Time Warner Cable’s treatment of it’s customers in the Navigator matter is not trivial, and points to larger problems in our society: unchecked corporate power, arrogance and greed.

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Time Warner is in effect telling the residents of Lincoln, “we can do what we want, and there is nothing that you can do about it.” That is the basic attitude of corporate America in general, and why this country abolished monopolies a century ago.

The short story is that Time Warner substituted Navigator software, a new product developed by Time Warner and not tested, for Passport, a tested product which worked, then raised the price of Navigator, and used its customers as beta testers (guinea pigs) without telling them they were being used for an experiment.

There were numerous problems with the new software, mainly because it was still in the beta testing stage. Time Warner misrepresented its product and service to thousands of people in our area, leading them to believe this was a tested product that would be the next great leap forward for humankind. In actuality, Time Warner required their own customers pay for the beta testing instead of paying for beta tests themselves, which is the industry standard.

Their customers received poor or no service for several months, and Time Warner saved several million dollars for the cost of a proper beta test. Make no mistake, this was not mere negligence, this was intentional conduct.

And it is not a mere coincidence that this happened not more than a year after the city extended the Time Warner cable franchise agreement for an additional 15 years.

Franchise agreements are next to impossible to break. thanks to well lobbied federal law, a fact not lost to the Time Warner executives. Finally, it was no random choice that Nebraska was selected; we are among only a hand full of states that do not allow punitive damages for civil wrongs. That, in a nutshell, is the Navigator Caper.

The Cable Television Advisory Board was given the responsibility by the Lincoln City Council to investigate the deluge of complaints received because of the Navigator software.

The CAB is a group of unpaid, part-time and very dedicated citizens, who have donated their time for the public good. They are nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council. Instead of cooperating with the investigation, Time Warner stonewalled CAB, refused to answer core questions on the nebulous grounds of protecting “proprietary information.” It hoped CAB would get tired and that the problem would go away.

To the credit of CAB, it fulfilled its responsibility and submitted a well-reasoned and detailed report to the City Council on the limited information provided by Time Warner. The city of Lincoln is fortunate to have dedicated citizens performing this task.

It is now the responsibility of the City Council to act on the recommendations of CAB. The conduct of Time Warner in this matter has been disturbing. The public has been damaged, and the City Council should take the lead in demanding that compensation be given to all Time Warner customers, and implementing the other suggestions from CAB. Whether the City Council even has that power is another matter, but the council needs to express outrage at this abuse of corporate power, in what ever way they are able.

The council has subpoena power, and if the truth is to be obtained, that might be the proper avenue. Also, this is the stuff class actions are made of, and some customers might want to explore that option with counsel. In any event, Time Warner should not be permitted to steal several million dollars, even if it is a little at a time, without the city taking a strong position that this conduct is reprehensible.

Time Warner thinks it is above the law, thanks to the almost unbreakable monopoly on cable service granted by the city.

It should be the responsibility of the City Council to demonstrate to both the public and Time Warner, that Time Warner is not bulletproof, and hold them up for what they are: an avaricious corporation, who misused the public trust, abused the public franchise granted to them, and who sold their customers service which they did not receive.

Herb Friedman is a member of the Lincoln Cable Television Advisory Board (CAB), but he wrote this column as a private citizen. He does not speak for CAB.


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Sylvia wrote on May 26, 2007 1:32 am:
" As an independent beta-tester of enterprise software, I think it should be the right of every American to be compensated for their beta-testing activities. A beta-tester should also be compensated for feature reduction on the new product. Most of all, the people of Lincoln should be compensated for being involuntary beta-testers. "

 Same guy? wrote on May 26, 2007 8:34 am:
" Is this the same guy whose commercials I've seen on Time Warner Cable asking "if you've been injured in an accident, call me"? He makes a generous living I'm sure going after business. Give me a break.The market will work work this all out and city government should stay out of matters like these. And we wonder why Lincoln has a tough time attracting successful and innovative businesses? "

 Great points Herb! wrote on May 26, 2007 11:18 am:
" The market will not work this out. The market is a monopoly. Not everybody wishes to bolt a satellite dish onto their houses. For all of these "market" fundamentalists haven't the past ten years of endless business and corporate scandals done anything to shake your non-questioning faith? The "invisible hand" is apparently shielding your eyes. Break free from your mindless dogma and shake hands with reality. "

 Competition is GOOD for business, not bad! wrote on May 26, 2007 12:17 pm:
" To "Same Guy?": Do you not get it that there are no doubt innovative businesses that have chosen to not locate in Lincoln precisely BECAUSE of our lack of good communications services? Not just the capability of communicating on their end (though that's a big part of it too), but also businesses expect to be able to reach their customers through advertising; if the sole local cable franchise treats customers like dirt and thereby loses a large share of those customers, the potential ad revenue goes down, and the external business looks elsewhere to cities with more competition. (Omaha springs to mind.) We should be ENCOURAGING competition in the marketplace, particularly in innovative areas of software (such as programming an Interactive Program Guide like the Navigator) instead of saying that one megacorporation is going to get ALL of our electronics business no matter how shoddy the product, just because they had enough up front capital to pay for the cable to run our City's cable TV franchise. Oh, and by the way, this Herb Friedman that you seem to be putting down ALSO happens to be the same guy who pays for free taxi service on New Year's Eve for people who've imbibed a little too much. No doubt that act of kindness has saved lives (AND cost Herb some potential $$$ that he could have made if he had chosen to sue drunk drivers instead of getting them safely home). So don't be assaulting Herb on a personal basis, even if you don't like his opinion. "

 Go Herb wrote on May 29, 2007 2:41 pm:
" There is no market to work all this out. Time Warner has a monopoly. They used their monopoly privilege to make their paying customers guinea pigs in their software experiments. We should not have to pay to test Time Warner's software. Time Warner should pay us to test their software. Its customers should be paid as independent consultants. If this is the type of business Same Guy would like to see in Lincoln, I'm not interested. Any business that has to use its paying customers as lab rats to test its software is not successful and innovative. If Time Warner was successful and innovative, it would have hired a professional team of software engineers and consultants to test its product before releasing it to customers. "

 Whats wrong is wrote on May 29, 2007 4:22 pm:
" that this statement "Time Warner is in effect telling the residents of Lincoln, “we can do what we want, and there is nothing that you can do about it.” would not be true if you TW customers would do something instead of continous complaining. CANCEL your subscription! If you all cancel, they lose their power! "

 Julie wrote on May 29, 2007 4:35 pm:
" I want them to introduce Laughigator/Crapigator here in New York like they did in Lincoln, basically shoving it down people's throats. New Yorkers love a class action law suit and we can smell one coming... "

 Anon. wrote on May 30, 2007 9:35 am:
" Mr. Friedman makes broad, swathing observations and seems to treat the Navigator issues as the greatest attack against civilized humanity, as though it were another 9/11. Transitioning from the global ravages of war to cable problems in Lincoln, NE?!? Puh-lease. I'm no bloodhound, but I know a bonified blowhard whistleblower when I smell them. "

 Fed Up wrote on May 30, 2007 10:06 am:
" Funny to hear a LAWYER preach the perils of arrogance and greed. Give me a break. And further, let's stop referring to our local cable company as a monopoly. Herb obviously missed Business Law, becuase Time Warner is NOT a monopoly--look up the definition of the word. While we're on the topic, I'm curious to find a community that has more than one option for CABLE service. Generally Dish or DirecTV are your alternatives. I am SO tired of hearing people complain about this, are we that ignorant? Are there not bigger problems in our OWN TOWN that need attention? Truly, the furor over this cable matter disgusts me, and I hope you're all ashamed of each other. "

 Just so you know wrote on May 30, 2007 11:03 am:
" There are only 6 major media companies remaining in this country to provide internet, radio, and television services. There is a very small oligarchy in the media industry, free market is a joke. In a free market there would not be government subsidies for these major corporations that ensure black ink in their books. We wonder why we don't get the truth about our politicians from the media but we ignore the fact that they are in collusion. Good luck. I recommend you just turn off your T.V. and seek independent print media and independent radio broadcasting. "

 Sean1 wrote on May 30, 2007 1:12 pm:
" At one time, because of abusive pricing that was three times the inflation rate, the cable industry was regulated by Congress. When they'd lobbied enough and bought off enough public officials regulation was dropped. The publice was assured that "competition" would lower cable bills. Anyone seen that here or anywhere else in the country? It was'nt so long ago (around the time of ENRON) that execs for a cable company on the east coast were hauled into court for their theivery. Maybe it's time someone did the same for TWC. "

 wallace mcnabb wrote on May 30, 2007 4:11 pm:
" are you kidding me? competition is the key. when it is tried prices fall every time and quality goes up. i travel alot and i see ads in calif. that make the prices here look like a rip off..oh ya .. they are !! get some more choices here. "

 It's a simple solution wrote on May 31, 2007 1:45 pm:
" Don't do business with Time Warner. Duh! "

 Flabbergasted wrote on June 1, 2007 12:45 pm:
" I'll volunteer to be a "beta-tester" for the NFL Network...oh yeah, Time Warner thinks it's too expensive to give us what we actually want.... "

 Seriously? wrote on June 1, 2007 1:43 pm:
" Did anybody else catch the bottom line disclaimer? "Herb Friedman is a member of the Lincoln Cable Television Advisory Board (CAB), but he wrote this column as a private citizen. He does not speak for CAB." I thought the CAB was supposed to be made up of unbiased individuals, sort of like a jury, who would look at the facts in the case and then render their solutions. Instead, Mr. Friedman writes a letter to the paper blasting the company he was supposed to be examining? If you ask me, this seems like a major case of jumping on the bandwagon. Obviously this Navigator issue is a hot button issue nowadays in Lincoln, and by taking up a hard line stance on the side that most of the town favors, this ambulance chaser appears to be setting an agenda. Are there any elections coming up in the near future? Because this would look really great on a campaign sign. "I may be a lawyer, but I hate Time Warner too!!" He'd be a shoe in. "

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