The House Communications Subcommittee scheduled a hearing on the...

on track to release a draft of the legislation by the end of March,” said Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., in a statement. The subcommittee did not announce witnesses. Meanwhile, Senate Commerce Committee leaders sought input from industry on STELA in a letter released Tuesday night (http://1.usa.gov/1c8CZ7y). “The pending STELA reauthorization offers the Committee a chance to consider whether present law appropriately protects and promotes a video market that is responsive to consumer demands and expectations,” said the letter, signed by Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and subcommittee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss. “Various stakeholders already have identified a number of issues that the Committee could consider as part of the reauthorization of the Communications Act elements of STELA. These issues implicate both traditional entities that provide video services, as well as possible future entrants into the video marketplace.” They ask a wide range of questions, some specific to STELA and some on video policy broadly. Under the STELA questions, they asked, “Should the Congress modify this obligation or otherwise clarify what it means to negotiate retransmission consent in good faith? If so, how?” Walden has stressed STELA should not address retrans. The senators sent the letter to “a diverse array of stakeholders, including satellite TV, broadcasters, cable television, online video, broadband, public interest groups, and free market think tanks,” said a press release. The letter mentions Rockefeller’s video bill introduced last fall. “The Consumer Choice in Online Video Act, S.1680, is one approach to fostering a consumer-centric online video marketplace,” it said. “Are there elements of that bill that should be considered in conjunction with the STELA reauthorization?"