The FCC has voted unanimously to seek comment on a some proposed changes to its program carriage rules.
The item combines a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
The item seeks comment on whether and how to modify the time limit requirements for filing program carriage complaints, specifically the statute of limitations for program carriage disputes and how the FCC's Administrative Law Judge reviews those disputes.
The item proposes to hold that "in circumstances where a defendant multichannel video programming distributor has denied or failed to acknowledge a request for program carriage, the statute of limitations is triggered by that action, rather than notice of intent to file a complaint on that basis."
It would do the same for the statute of limitations for "program access, open video system (OVS), and good-faith retransmission consent complaints."
It also proposes to "harmonize" the process the FCC and ALJ use to review such complaints to help resolve those complaints faster.
