Start-up online video distributors (OVDs) should not be subject to...
Start-up online video distributors (OVDs) should not be subject to a different standard under the FCC order that allowed Comcast to buy control of NBCUniversal when determining who should cover the costs of a programming access arbitration, NBCU said in…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
a redacted filing with the FCC (http://xrl.us/bnky9k). The filing was in response to a partial appeal of an arbitrator’s order involving Project Concord Inc. (PCI) and Comcast’s NBCU, in which Project Concord sought to have Comcast cover its arbitration costs. “PCI’s attempt to rewrite the Order is improper,” NBCU said. “The Commission considered concerns about the costs of litigation for OVDs (and others) in the Comcast-NBCUniversal proceeding and specifically adopted baseball-style arbitration rules to provide claimants with a streamlined, efficient process for seeking access to programming,” it said. “It would have been unwarranted and unfair for the Commission to have further obligated NBCUniversal to bear both its own costs and the costs of OVDs that invoke arbitration.” NBCU said it acted reasonably and in good faith throughout the arbitration.