A Choice Beyond Cable Box Rentals? It May Hinge on a Swing Voter

When the Federal Communications Commission announced a plan that would free people from having to rent cable set-top boxes, the cable and television industries balked and lobbied hard to forestall the proposal. But it turns out the biggest threat to the plan, which the FCC is expected to vote on Sept 29, is a low-profile Democratic commissioner within the agency itself.

Jessica Rosenworcel, a career telecom wonk whom President Obama appointed to the FCC in 2012, has become the crucial swing vote on the cable box proposal. She is one of three Democrats of the agency’s five rule-making members, which would normally be enough to carry a vote since commissioners typically act in line with their parties. But Commissioner Rosenworcel has not fully embraced the cable box proposal like her two Democratic colleagues and instead has indicated her unease with the plan. Rosenworcel’s concerns hinge on what she views as what may be too much meddling by the FCC in the private agreements between cable providers and device makers. However, consumer groups say the FCC needs to play an oversight role in those licensing deals to ensure fairness. Commissioner Rosenworcel believes that the market for costly set-top boxes required reform. But she said the cable box proposal needed to be revised to comply with copyright and licensing laws that would not give the FCC outsize power.