A new law that passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate could ban ISPs from charging you an extra fee to rent your TV hardware that you already own (via TechDirt).
Cable Law
Called The Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019, the law only needs President Trump’s signature in order to be fully passed. Not only does it prevent ISPs from charging you certain rental fees, it also requires them to sent you a list of any fees and surcharges to new customers within 24 hours of signing up. Users who don’t want the extra fees can cancel without penalty.
Thanks to lobbying from cable companies though, cable TV providers can still falsely advertise a lower rate. And it applies to cable TV and not broadband service where the problem with fees is just as bad. But it’s a start.
“Initial versions of the legislation actually had the provision as truth in advertising, so you had to advertise the entire fees,” said Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, a Washington-based public-interest group. “But it’s still an improvement over what currently exists, because you have a right to cancel after signing up.”
That’s a good start. How about ending the lock in between particular channels and cable providers. You know how you have to subscribe to the XYZ-Channel on your cable system before you stream it? But if I had it on my cable system I likely wouldn’t WANT to stream it. So effectively it’s just preventing content producers from connecting with a lot of potential customers. It’s the last gasp of cable providers flexing their muscle and forcing producers to go with them, and people to sign up. There’s gotta be some anti trust, or something rule that this is treading on.