Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday (November 30) that those looking for the agency to start regulating video streamers should look to Congress instead.
Rosenworcel has said before that she does not think the FCC has the authority under either the Communications Act or Cable Act to regulate virtual multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD) and she doubled down on that opinion at an FCC oversight hearing.
She was pressed on that point by House Energy & Commerce Committee chair Kathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who wrote Rosenworcel earlier in the year signaling she did not want the FCC to reopen the issue.
Asked by Rodgers if she would commit to not taking any action, Rosenworcel said that while the FCC was combing over the law and considering “adjacent” copyright issues, shr “fundamentally” believes vMVPD regulation is an issue “where those who want us to act will have to go to Congress.”
Democrats on Capitol Hill have pushed the FCC to reopen its 2014 proposal to define some video-streaming services as MVPDs subject to agency regulation.
By contrast, Republicans, including Rodgers and Communications Subcommitte chairman Bob Latta (R-Ohio), have told the FCC to keep its regulatory hands off streamers.
Also Read: Rodgers Warns FCC to Stay in Regulatory Lane
With the backing of broadcasters, who have been trying to get more money for their online content, including by pushing for an antitrust exemption from Congress to negotiate for aggregated news content, Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) wrote Rosenworcel asking her to revive the 2014 inquiry with a focus on good-faith negotiation rules related to edge provider aggregation of news content from print and broadcast sources.
While the inquiry was revived, its prospects, given the chairwoman’s view, are not bright.
“Chairwoman Rosenworcel was extremely clear again today on the FCC’s ability to regulate streaming services," Bryce Harlow, spokesperson for the Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition, said. “[C]ongress is the only one that can regulate streaming video in the manner that large station groups seek. Her thoughtful remarks reaffirm her prior sentiments and are a win for streaming viewers across the country whose ability to access high-quality and affordable content we’re fighting hard to protect.”
Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition members include streaming power players Hulu, Fubo, YouTube TV, Paramount, Fox and NBC.
