Civil Rights Groups Seek Set-Top Sunshine

In a petition to the Federal Communications Commission, 19 civil rights groups including the NAACP, National Action Network, and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) have asked that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler lift the "sunshine rule" restrictions on outside parties contacting FCC decisionmakers about the set-top box revamp. Chairman Wheeler pulled the item from a planned public meeting vote last week and placed it on circulation—where it could be voted outside a public meeting—but invoked sunshine prohibitions on outside contacts as work continued on the item. The groups pointed out that sunshine restrictions are usually lifted when an item is pulled.

The same groups also want the FCC to release the text of the latest proposal and allow for further public comment and included that in their petition. "Chairman Wheeler’s refusal to release the new plan for public comment makes a mockery of the process and violates the most basic principles of transparency," said National Urban League president Marc Morial. "And his decision to impose rules that silence our voices, while decisions impacting our communities are settled behind closed doors, is unacceptable. The FCC must ‘unlock the plan’ and allow for meaningful feedback.”