For Immediate Release

 

Tech Knowledge Statement On FCC Proposal To Modify Regulations Governing Set-Top Boxes

Haymarket, VA, February 18, 2016 – Fred Campbell, Director of Tech Knowledge, released the following statement with respect to the Federal Communications Commission’s adoption at its February open meeting of a proposal to modify regulations governing cable and satellite set-top boxes:

The slogan for today’s FCC meeting, “Unlock The Box,” isn’t about unlocking cable and satellite set-top boxes. It’s about shifting some of the value of their underlying programming rights to Google and other powerful Internet companies.

In the STELA Reauthorization (STELAR) Act of 2014, Congress charged the FCC with establishing a working group of technical experts to recommend standards for promoting the “competitive availability of navigation devices,” not search engines and programming guides. But promoting Google’s ability to add cable and satellite programming packages to its online monopoly search engine and to create Google-branded programming guides is what the FCC’s proposed plan would ultimately do. The plan would allow Google to rebrand other video service providers’s programming packages as Google’s own and permit Google to track the behavior of video consumers in order to enhance Google’s advertising and other affiliated businesses.

The expert group established by the FCC at Congress’s behest recommended two different approaches — the approach proposed by the FCC today as well as an apps-based approach that would promote the competitive availability of navigation devices without compromising the value of existing programming packages or the contractual rights of programmers. But the fact sheet released by Chairman Wheeler in January didn’t mention the expert committee’s apps-based recommendation. The fact sheet informed the public about the Chairman’s preferred plan only, as if the only choice were between his plan or nothing at all.

Operating a government agency in this sort of shade does not serve the public interest. The public deserved to know about both options before editorial staffs around the nation began proclaiming their support for the only option the Chairman chose to present.

 Tech Knowledge promotes market-oriented technology policies on behalf of the public interest. Additional information about Tech Knowledge can be found on its website, tech knowledge.center.