The big news is that Verizon will be carrying Disney content over it's new FiOS video service, which debuted just 45 minutes ago in Keller, Texas, just a couple of miles from my office. (I almost went to the FiOS event, but I got caught up explaining to concerned relatives that no, we weren't doing hurricane evacuation in Dallas, seeing how we're about 400 miles from Galveston. Texas is a BIG state . . . )
But the really interesting news is that Verizon and Disney have found a compromise in dealing with piracy. If you've followed the piracy wars, you know that Verizon has been very resistant to helping companies pursue infringement actions against Verizon subscribers. But, in the new agreement, if Disney identifies a possible copyright infringement on the Verizon network, Disney will notify Verizon and Verizon will notify their customer, without giving the personal identification information to Disney.
This is a breakthrough, as Disney's Robert Iger said. It means that a way has been found for pirates to be identified, put on notice, and dealt with by Verizon, which promises to shut off service to pirates that have been repeatedly warned.
Free-market, contractual agreements between private entities to deal with piracy. This should work. And if it does, it doesn't get any better than this.