Set-top Copyright Arguments Are Misdirection, PK Says

Arguments that an FCC proposal on set-top boxes would disrupt copyright protection for content are “a misdirection,” Public Knowledge representatives said in a meeting with aides to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 97-80. The practices multichannel video programming distributors are concerned about already are illegal, PK said. “It is hard to see how giving consumers greater access to lawful content would increase their appetite for unlawful content.” Content companies CBS, Disney, Scripps, 21st Century Fox and Viacom visited the FCC last week to argue the set-top proposal does threaten their copyrighted content, said an ex parte filing.