By Julian Hattem
Opponents of new regulations from the Federal Communications Commission are warning that the agency will inadvertently ruin the future of TV.
In comments filed to the FCC this week, industry and advocacy groups warned that the plan would unnecessarily interfere with the free market and stunt the growth of a nascent service.
“[C]ompetition in the video marketplace is already flourishing,” the National Cable and Telecommunications Association wrote. “[I]ntervening in the marketplace to provide special benefits to an entire new class of providers of video programming while imposing special obligations on certain program networks has the effect of … promoting some competitors over others without regard to their ability to best and most efficiently meet consumer demand.”
The Consumer Electronics Association echoed the sentiment, and urged the FCC to “refrain from regulation and let online video technologies and business models more fully develop and compete.”
Last year, the FCC proposed new regulations that would expand its definition of cable and satellite TV services to also include new types of online video that go beyond services like Netflix or Hulu.
