The American Conservative Union falsely states the TV marketplace is free...
The American Conservative Union falsely states the TV marketplace is free of regulation, Free State Foundation President Randolph May said Friday on the FSF blog (http://xrl.us/bmzwpj). “It is true that there is an element of a market negotiation in the…
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current retransmission consent regime, which is why, I suppose, that the ACU calls it a ‘marketplace,'” he said. “But in light of all the various legacy laws and regulations that together overlay the video marketplace -- must carry, network non-duplication and syndicated exclusivity, compulsory licensing, and others -- the retransmission regime operates in the overall context of an ‘unfree’ market.” ACU last week asked congressional Republicans to oppose S-2008 by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and HR-3675 by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., because the retrans system shouldn’t end as the bills seek. “Despite what you might hear, under the present system there is no epidemic of service interruptions that adversely affect consumers and cause them to miss widely-viewed events like the Super Bowl,” Cardenas said. “The reality is that today we have a functioning market in which opposing parties are able to bring value to the negotiating table. By stripping away the right to compensation for the use of the signal the government would be tipping the scales heavily to the side of the pay-tv companies.” Cardenas said DeMint should be “commended for trying to reduce unnecessary regulations and there are provisions in the bill we would consider supporting.”