While the ramifications of the government shutdown are...
While the ramifications of the government shutdown are far larger than any retransmission dispute, “the similarity of circumstances is striking,” said a broadcast lawyer who has represented clients in retrans negotiations. Despite the early warning, high stakes and impending loss…
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of service to the public, “Congress failed to reach agreement and the government shut down,” said Pillsbury lawyer Scott Flick in a blog post (http://bit.ly/14GnEmy). One of the inherent characteristics of “arm’s length” negotiations, is that “a disruption is sometimes necessary to jolt the parties into moving off of their original positions and on to a negotiated result,” he said. While those against the current retrans process argue that merely policing the negotiation process isn’t enough, it seems like the good faith rule might be fairly useful in the current congressional conundrum, he said. “Where such intractable disputes arise, we should all be thrilled if all that is needed to solve the problem is a pair of rabbit ears.”