Long statement on FCC New Set-Top Box Proposal

WASHINGTON, D.C - Congressman Billy Long (MO-07) issued the following statement today about the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) new set-top box proposal. The new proposal has the FCC mandate what is in a copyright license by creating a new copyright office under the agencies jurisdiction. This added layer of bureaucracy will only delay innovative products from reaching consumers.

“I am very concerned about the FCC’s set-top box proposal in relation to copyright protections and privately negotiated licenses. The FCC is proposing a massive new bureaucratic intrusion that threatens innovation, mobile viewing and exposes every consumer’s viewing habits to data mining.  The FCC should promote a competitive environment for set top boxes, but I strongly disagree with their approach. The FCC should be seeking to build a consensus that is consumer driven and not one where the government micro manages copyright negotiations.  We need an initiative that looks through the windshield at technology, not the rearview mirror.”

Long also stated concern with the huge regulatory burden being imposed on multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) being forced to design an App for all devices and that the App be functionally equivalent to the set-top box.

“This requirement will require a huge amount of time, engineering and cost for MVPDs to meet, especially when considering there was a simple, efficient cost effective alternative put forward by the industry; namely building apps for an open standard HTML-5 platform. Instead they now have to customize Apps with functionality that they may not even have developed. This is a huge burden, is unnecessary and will only serve to stifle innovation in the App market.”

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