Foes and backers of additional program carriage rules lobbied the eighth...

expansion of the program carriage rules -- for example, by mandating carriage through a ’standstill’ process before the Commission has determined a violation has occurred -- would raise significant legal issues and prejudge related issues that are reportedly being considered in a further notice of proposed rulemaking,” Comcast said. The cable operator said it wants the commission to seek comment on the issue. The initial draft of the order had a standstill provision, and agency officials may consider removing that from the order and instead solicit comment (CD June 3 p2). Given competition for pay-TV subscribers, it’s “imperative for cable operators to select programming, regardless of affiliation, that will attract and retain consumers,” Comcast recounted its lawyers having told an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Program carriage rules govern complaints made by independent channels that cable operators favored their own networks. Two such channels and two nonprofit groups seek rules “providing for a swift process” for handling complaints, they said in recounting a conversation with an aide to Commissioner Michael Copps. That could “help reduce the need to file complaints by leading to negotiations between MVPDs and independent channels that stay within the bounds set by Congress in the 1992 Cable Act,” said HDNet, the Tennis Channel, Media Access Project and Public Knowledge. “The Commission’s failure to enact a truly expedited complaint process has perpetuated the difficulties faced by independent programmers prior” to 1992, they added. The filing said more comments aren’t needed for the regulator to issue standstill rules, where carriage must continue while a complaint is pending.