Latta and McMorris Rogers Tell FCC to Sit Tight on VMVPD Docket
The FCC shouldn’t “apply 1990s-era laws and regulations” to streaming services, said House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rogers, R-Wash., and Communications Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta R-Ohio, in a letter to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Monday. “If the laws and regulations governing…
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the video marketplace need to be reexamined, it is up to Congress to make updates, not the FCC.” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has written Rosenworcel pressing for the agency to refresh the record on reclassifying streaming services as MVPDs, while Rosenworcel said such reclassification is not within the agency’s authority (see 2306230062. “We agree with your previous statements and urge you to refrain from taking any actions to reopen this proceeding,” said Latta and McMorris Rogers. “Imposing old cable regulations on vMVPDs would ignore the unique characteristics and complexities of the online video ecosystem.” The outdatedness of the current MVPD regulations is “precisely why it is so important for the FCC to refresh the record on how it views [virtual MVPDs],” said a statement from the Coalition for Local News, an advocacy group recently formed by broadcast affiliate groups to press for the 2014 FCC docket (14-261) on reclassification to be refreshed (see 2307180058). “The FCC and Congress cannot effectively understand this new market without the data and perspective a public comment process would uniquely offer,” said the coalition.