Politically, this would not have hit my radar screen; in fact, it doesn't appear to have hit the DKos radar screen, judging by a quick diary search. However, it has affected me personally (in a very minor way), for reasons I will get to in a moment, and it does involve the always important issue of television broadcast rights and fighting over who controls the public airwaves. It is not clear that either side is blameless, but it is clear that satellite subscribers, and in particular those living in rural areas, will be affected first.
What am I talking about? The legal scuffle between Echostar, provider of Dish Network, and the National Association of Broadcasters, which represents the interests of major broadcasters, over Dish Network's providing "distant local networks" to its consumers.
At issue was Echostar's having skirted copyright law: while providing stations for people who could not get affiliates was perfectly legal, giving other subscribers the luxury of multiple "distant network" affiliate choices was damaging to those local affiliates being passed over. Because of this, a judge ordered Echostar to cut off all distant local networks, even when they were offered legally, as of December 1st.
"Distant local networks" are ABC, NBC, CBS, or Fox affiliates provided to Dish Network customers after a waiver is received to allow them to receive these stations. Customers might subscribe to distant local networks for one of two reasons: either because they could not get local networks over Dish (either because Dish did not carry the locals in their market or because their market, like mine, did not have local affiliates for all four networks), or because they simply prefered the distant networks (which were typically from New York, LA, Chicago, and Denver, although they could also receive from other "nearby" markets).
The personal connection? We live in Gainesville, FL, a small market that has ABC, CBS, and Fox affiliates but no NBC station. I had applied for waivers to get the Jacksonville and New York NBC stations, which were recently granted. (The only reason I had applied for more than one was because I had been denied the Jacksonville waiver the first time around for reasons that have remained unclear.) As of December 1st, like all other recipients of Dish's distant local networks, I stopped receiving these channels.
In response, Dish has launched a legislative campaign, the "Satellite Consumer Protection Act of 2006" (S.4067), that has received the backing of a number of Senators (including Leahy, Allard , Inoyye, Snowe, Rockefeller, Byrd, Salazar, Clinton, Roberts, Pryor, Enzi, and Ensign) from both parties. (Here is the website Echostar has set up to get customers to contact their congresspersons.) Leahy, for instance, is concerned about its effect on rural Vermonters:
The bill strikes a balance between consumer protection and tough enforcement against EchoStar for violating the law. The legislation requires EchoStar to deposit $20 million to be used to cover any future violations.
“This is a reasonable solution that penalizes Echostar for violating the law, while protecting the people who are the real victims of this serious problem: the consumers who are paying for these services,” said Leahy.
Conventional wisdom, however, is that the bill has little chance of passing, either in the current lame-duck session or when the new Congress meets.
For whatever reason, this has gotten me irritated out of all proportion to the actual practical impact: so what if we won't be able to watch The Office or Sunday Night Football. (Or I could find a friend/neighbor here who has cable, since Cox Communications, for reasons that are also a mystery to me, is able to carry the local Orlando NBC affiliate.) But it strikes, I think, at the fairness bone that has been a large component of my psyche since childhood (and which has also driven me to liberal/progressive political activism). Not to mention that we are stuck in the fifth month of one of those eighteen month commitments with Dish Network.
I'd be interested in the opinions of fellow Kossacks on this matter, especially in terms of the larger implications. Dish says that the NAB is bullying consumers (and from my own personal perspective, this certainly feels like it is the case), and that it is also being pushed by Fox, which not coincidentally owns DirecTV. In addition, those affected the most will be people living in rural areas and where cable is not an option.
The NAB, on the other hand, says that Dish has been flouting the law and that forcing it out of the distant local network providing business altogether is the only solution.
I, in the meantime, will have to watch Steve Carell via iTunes.
-- Stu