Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals (6th Circuit) ruled that the FCC does not have the preemptive authority, under the 1996 Telecom Act, to block state statutory provisions that restrict or prohibit the expansion of municipal broadband into underserved nearby communities.
While the Court acknowledged the public benefits of expanding high-speed broadband, it reversed the FCC's order concluding that the federal regulatory body does not have the authority to reallocate decision-making on this issue from the state to its municipalities.
http://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/16a0189p-06.pdf
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Sunday, August 7, 2016
The yin and yang of giving consumers what they want
All in one week!
On Wednesday (8/3), Dish Network announced that it had
reached a multi-year retransmission agreement with the NFL that ended its
6-week blackout of the NFL Network and the NFL RedZone to its subscribers.
On Friday (85), it launched a skinny bundle (Flex Pack)
that is marketed to subscribers as “Don’t Watch, Don’t Pay.” The core package includes 50-channels like
AMC, TNT, USA, and CNN. The add-on channel
packs, ranging in price from $6 to $10 per month, cover niche interests like
variety, kids, action, and news. The NFL
channels are not included in any of the current channel packs.
COMPETITION IS GOOD, BUT THERE IS THE LAW
The FCC’s goal of promoting competition and choice in
the set-top box market hit a roadblock in the past few days. While the “unlock the box” proposal has been
criticized for months by cable operators whose vested interest is to maintain
the monthly rental fees collected from cable subscribers, the US Copyright
Office, in a letter to members of Congress, raised concerns about the potential
for copyright law and policy violations if the Proposed Rule was implemented as
described in the NPRM.* Specifically,
the Copyright Office said that the Proposed Rule "could interfere with copyright owners' rights to
license their works as provided by copyright law, and restrict their ability to
impose reasonable conditions on the use of those works through private
negations."
Let’s see how regulators, consumer groups, and industry
participants respond.
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