This tiny legal tweak could change the way you watch TV and get online

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing a tweak to the nation's TV rules, suggesting that new online video providers be treated just like the country's traditional cable and satellite TV companies. That means companies offering live television over the Internet -- such as the now-shuttered Aereo -- would be given the same privileges (and requirements) that apply to companies such as Comcast or Time Warner Cable.

In theory, this means online video providers would be able to take advantage of certain protections when negotiating with programmers for the right to broadcast their content. Programmers, meanwhile, could begin charging these distributors money. Notably, though, the FCC's rules would only apply to firms that offer "stream[s] of prescheduled video programming." So services like YouTube and Hulu would not be covered, because they offer playback on demand. The FCC believes that streamlining these rules would help newer, smaller video providers grow as more people start watching TV over the Internet.