Consumer Groups Back Markey Set-Top Amendment

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Consumer activist groups and fans of the FCC's ban on integrated set-tops have gotten behind a proposed amendment to the STAVRA satellite bill that would require the FCC to set a standard for a new competitive set-top standard before eliminating the ban.  

Public Knowledge, Consumers Union and Free Press cited an amendment proposed by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) for the STAVRA markup Sept. 17 that would require the FCC to implement a "platform-neutral" system of insuring the competitive availability of competitive navigation devices before the ban on integrated set-tops can be eliminated. (The current bill has no such built-in delay in eliminating the ban.)  

Cable operators strongly support scrapping the ban.

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John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.