Late Effort to Have FCC Re-examine the DTV Transition Plan

LATE EFFORT TO HAVE FCC RE-EXAMINE THE DTV TRANSITION PLAN
[SOURCE: BetaNews, AUTHOR: Scott M. Fulton, III]
It is a mere eighteen months away: American terrestrial television transmitters will vacate the VHF and UHF spectra that dominated the broadcast industry for most of the 20th century, and move to a new set of frequencies with the broader bandwidth required for digital television. While lawmakers complain that not enough people are aware their analog TVs won't pick up over-the-air signals after February 17, 2009, a collection of interest groups is now telling the FCC that it's neglected to enact critical ethical standards for the use of that spectrum. The Benton Foundation's complaint deals with multicasting, which is something owners of new DTVs may have already discovered: Many relocated channels are capable of broadcasting three other sub-channels concurrently. The Benton group document details a 12-year history of the FCC deferring the matter of regulating DTV broadcasting in the public interest, to unspecified future dates. In fact, a majority of the document's text consists of citations of the FCC's own words, including requests for commentaries and guidance on the matter of how to regulate multicast channels in the public interest. For instance, it cited a 1999 Notice of Inquiry (NOI), posted in response to concerns raised by some of the groups joining with Benton. By neglecting to even discuss the matter of the public interest, their argument proposes, the FCC may actually be violating the law.
http://www.betanews.com/article/Late_Effort_to_Have_FCC_Reexamine_the_DT...