Critics warn feds will choke off online TV

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.

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About Mark Milliman

Mark Milliman is a Principal Consultant at Inphotonics Research driving the adoption and assisting local governments to plan, build, operate, and lease access open-access municipal broadband networks. Additionally, he works with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to increase the value of their intellectual capital through the creation of strategic product plans and execution of innovative marketing strategies. With more than 22 years of experience in the telecommunications industry that began at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Mark has built fiber, cable, and wireless networks around the world to deliver voice, video, and data services. His thorough knowledge of all aspects of service delivery from content creation to the design, operation, and management of the network is utilized by carriers and equipment manufacturers. Mark conceived and developed one of the industry's first multi-service provisioning platform and is multiple patent holder. He is active in the IEEE as a senior member. Mark received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
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