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F.C.C. Delays Vote on Cable Set-Top Boxes F.C.C. Delays Vote on Cable Set-Top Boxes
(about 1 hour later)
WASHINGTON — A plan to simplify television viewing was delayed when federal regulators were unable to agree on a proposal to free consumers from expensive cable box rentals. WASHINGTON — A plan to simplify television viewing was delayed on Thursday when federal regulators were unable to agree on a proposal to free consumers from expensive cable-box rentals.
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday delayed a vote on a set-top box proposal that would require cable operators to provide their programming on devices other than a cable box, a plan intended to bring more competition to the television industry and liberate consumers from an average $231 in annual cable box fees. The Federal Communications Commission delayed a vote on a set-top box proposal that requires cable operators to provide their programming on alternative devices rather than just on a cable box, a plan that was intended to bring more competition to the television industry and liberate consumers from an average of $231 in annual cable box fees.
The plan appeared in jeopardy in the last days leading up to the vote. F.C.C. members said the proposal would still be considered for a future vote.
The plan appeared in jeopardy in the days leading up to the vote as one commissioner, Jessica Rosenworcel, expressed concern over potential copyright violations faced by television programmers. She said in a congressional hearing this month that the plan would make the F.C.C. too meddlesome in program licenses and that the agency might not have the legal authority to act as a watchdog over those agreements.
Ms. Rosenworcel, in a joint statement with the two other Democratic commissioners on the five-member agency, said on Thursday morning that she supported the goal of the proposal, to create more competition in the television box market.
“We are still working to resolve the remaining technical and legal issues and we are committed to unlocking the set-top box for consumers across this country,” the three commissioners said.
Under the proposed rules, consumers would be able to watch cable shows on devices like a Roku or Apple TV, or on no devices at all with internet-enabled televisions. Getting rid of the cable box would make finding and watching YouTube and Netflix streaming videos as easy as viewing cable programs because they would be presented in what would look like just another app.
The proposal was introduced in January and was supported by President Obama and consumer groups. The regulations were the latest move by the F.C.C. to encourage online video and to bring more attention to the closed television industry dominated by cable, telecom and satellite companies.
But the plan had many detractors, including the cable and television industries, for which the cable box has been a lucrative business. Those industries began an expensive lobbying battle to defeat the rules over the last nine months, spending more than $10 million in the last quarter and hiring dozens of outside lobbyists to protest the plan to lawmakers and F.C.C. commissioners.
The Copyright Office and dozens of members of Congress also opposed the plan, raising concerns over copyright infringement and a disruption to their advertising deals if programs were given to third-party device makers. Hollywood studios have protested that they would lose control over their content with the proposal, hurting creators and studios.
The regulations would remove a crucial part of the cable television industry’s model of forcing consumers to rent the boxes that showcase their own bundle of channels, analysts say. By making cable programming another app on a device like a TiVo, viewers would be exposed to more streaming content that is directly competing against the paid-TV bundle.
“This is the last gateway to the internet and this is a battle between open and closed platforms,” said Chip Pickering, president of Incompas, a lobbying group that represents Google and Amazon in support of the plan.
Supporters of the plan were disappointed with the delay, which could put the proposal in jeopardy.
“Today’s vote delay is an unequivocal loss for the tens of millions of Americans across the country who are forced to spend their hard-earned money on overpriced set-top box leases that cost them hundreds of dollars a year,” said Edward J. Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, in a statement on Thursday. He has said consumers have been charged an estimated $20 billion a year in forced rental fees.