AFL-CIO Pushes for Release of Set-Top Text

The AFL-CIO wants the FCC to publish the text of its latest set-top box revamp proposal.

The chairman has resisted such calls to this point.

In a letter to FCC chairman Tom Wheeler Wednesday, William Samuel, director of the union's government affairs department, said that if the FCC was to be "fully transparent" it would release the full text of the revised proposal before a vote.

After pulling the item off the September meeting agenda to let commissioners vet some last-minute changes, he did lift prohibitions he had instituted on further meetings with FCC staffers about the item, but stakeholders have argued that given the changes, they didn't know exactly what they were commenting on.

Related: Tech Pros Union Knocks Set-Top Plan

Given the outcry from the political right and left for transparency, the chairman may want to vote the item in a public meeting once/if he gets three votes but is unlikely to publish the text of what is considered a work-in-progress product until it is voted.

One of the union's concerns, shared by cable operators, studios and some in Congress, is the impact of the proposal on copyright and contract protections.

"The middle class Americans who depend on copyright protections to earn family-supporting pay and the consumers entrusting their personal information with corporations that deliver their entertainment content deserve a voice in the process."

Last month, Samuel wrote the FCC, saying the proposal "seriously undermines important copyright protections that help ensure that the people who work in the film and TV industry receive fair compensation for the work that they create."

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.