TPA Urges Congress to Act on Reforming Video Marketplace Laws

Congress has been slowly moving toward reforming many of the country’s outdated communications laws to better serve taxpayers and consumers. TPA has been agressive in calling for faster action on Capitol Hill, but unfortunately that has yet to materialize. However, recently the FCC took action on their own to make important changes to some of the rules that govern the video marketplace, but that doesn’t mean Congress should abdicate their responsibilites to the federal agency. Keeping that in mind, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance sent the following letter to members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, as well as the Senate Commerce Committee, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It’s imporant for Congress to maintain their proper role without letting the FCC take too much action. 

Read the letter below:

October 8, 2015

Dear Member:

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA), representing millions of taxpayers across the country, writes the Committee in response to recent actions taken by Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler regarding retransmission consent. In a statement this past August, Chairman Wheeler announced the agency would move a series of orders and proposals including the elimination of outdated “exclusivity rules.”  The current rules prevent multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) from providing subscribers an out-of-market broadcast station.  Wheeler’s announcement would change those outdated rules.

TPA does not see this action as a substitute for substantive legislation that we have supported, most notably the reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA).  We do, however, see this move by the FCC as something that could encourage Congress to act. Congress has the authority to begin to tear away at the bureaucratic red tape and cronyism that has allowed for the picking of winning and losers in the video marketplace, and congressional action would (and should) remove the FCC’s “thumb from the scale.”

TPA urges your committee to use the FCC’s actions as further evidence and motivation to move forward on reforming the rules that guide the video marketplace so that all customers can benefit and all providers can have a fair playing field, without the government choosing sides.

Regards,

David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance