FCC set-top box proposals attract more criticism

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) has expressed “great concern” over the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) proposal regarding set-top boxes.

On Tuesday, August 16, Karen Kerrigan, CEO of the SBE Council, which works to advance initiatives to improve the environment for start-up businesses, wrote to the FCC to say it was “baffled” by the proposal.

In February this year, the FCC said it had accepted a proposal to “unlock the box” in a bid to pave the way for other solutions to compete with set-top boxes.

The proposal would see customers able to choose devices and apps on which to watch television rather than being forced to use individual cable companies’ boxes.

Currently TV customers in the US have to pay a subscription to choose a set-top box provided for by a cable or broadcasting company.

In the letter to Marlene Dortch, secretary to the FCC, Kerrigan said: “Quite frankly, the SBE Council does not understand what problem the FCC is trying to fix, because there is none.”

The letter added that the independent programming community depends upon licensing agreements which in turn create certainty for content development and growth.

“The FCC’s set-top box scheme will undermine these agreements and allow companies, like a Google for exam ple, to profit off of the hard work of the programming community,” the letter added.

Earlier this month, WIPR reported that the US Copyright Office had backed a group of cable television companies in their fight against the proposals.