[opendtv] Re: Multicast must-carry

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:01:09 -0400

At 6:37 PM -0700 10/23/07, John Willkie wrote:
Sounds like he can't get two other commissioners to agree to put it on the
agenda, so now he's asking the most idiotic congress in U.S. history to do
what he cannot.

Even if he COULD get two or more of the commissioners to agree to an order that would authorize multicast must carry, that order would be reversed by the courts in a heartbeat. Worse yet, the resulting test case might make it all the way to the Supreme Court where ALL must carry/retransmission consent rules could be overturned (It almost happened in the '90s, being upheld by a 5-4 decision.

The reason that Martin was building this case for Congress, is that ONLY Congress can authorize multicast carriage via new legislation, in order to prevent the courts from overturning it. THis is a long shot at best.

Regards
Craig


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