Public Knowledge’s suggestion that the FCC should set up a...
Public Knowledge’s suggestion that the FCC should set up a “prevailing party” standard for cost-shifting in arbitrations covering online video distributors (OVDs) under the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger order is unfounded, as are PK’s assertions that without such assurances parties may be…
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.
reluctant to bring OVD program access complaints, NBCU said in a letter to the FCC (http://xrl.us/bnodvm). PK had raised those suggestions in the context of Project Concord’s (PCI) arbitration with Comcast/NBCU. “Besides being unfounded, Public Knowledge’s suggestions reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of this dispute,” the company said. “The present arbitration was not about ensuring PCI’s ‘access’ to NBCUniversal programming, as Public Knowledge wrongly assumes,” it said: “Instead it centered on whether providing certain content to PCI would exceed NBCUniversal’s obligations under the order or breach other NBCUniversal license agreements.” And as a result of the arbitration, PCI submitted a final offer that “significantly narrowed these issues,” NBCU said. “If public knowledge seeks to champion online video and helps eliminate unnecessary arbitrations under the Order, it should advocate that OVDs invoking the Benchmark Condition be forthcoming at the negotiating table about a peer deal and the terms and conditions that fairly reflect (rather than attempt to exceed) their rights and NBCUniversal’s obligations."