Do television sets have rights? Apparently so, according to the National Association of Broadcasters. Communications Daily, reporting today on the planned subsidy for analog televisions, quotes a broadcast industry spokesman as saying” [O]ur priority is that no TV set and no consumer gets disenfranchised.” Let’s read that again. “[O]ur priority is that no TV set and no consumer gets disenfranchised.”
It’s odd enough to say to talk about consumers being “disenfranchised” due to the digital transition. But TV sets? Can TV sets be “disenfranchised”? Somehow I missed the provision in the Constitution granting rights to televisions, or any electronic appliances for that matter. I’m not even sure how such rights would be defined. Would only analog televisions be protected? Perhaps any device with a cathode ray tube? What about computer monitors? Are they entitled to equal protection under the law?
NAB’s surprising assertion of rights for inaminate objects shows how far advocates of analog TV subsidies have stretched. Of course, the broadcasters don’t literally think TV’s should vote. (Though perhaps they would, in an NAB dream-world). But simply asserting a consumer right to television is no longer enough. The debate now is not over ensuring that people have access to television after the 2009 transition. Its about whether to extend subsidies to all households, even those with cable. Sure, these people won’t lose access to TV — the transition doesn’t affect sets hooked up to cable. But, the argument goes, what about those poor TV sets in their basements and kitchens not hooked up to cable? The argument thus has become one over televisions, not just consumers.
Under rules announced last week by the Commerce Department, the first $990 million of subsidies will be open to cable households. But the broadcasters — along with more than a few congressmen want more. According to the Communications Daily story, legislation to expand the program could be enacted within the next month or two, perhaps tucked into an appropriations bill.
Televisions in basements across America are no doubt watching this with interest. You should stay tuned as well.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
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