Senate Passes STELA; Measure Moves to House

The Senate Wednesday passed STELA, the five-year re-authorization of the satellite blanket distant signal license. It still has to be passed in the House, but the Senate action is a major step given the trouble the bill has had in gaining passage.

The Dec. 31 expiration had to be extended twice after if failed to pass, and there was a brief period when the license had actually expired. The just-passed bill contains a provision making it retroactive to cover that base. Satellite operators and content owners complied with Congress' urgings to maintain the status quo between the license's expiration on Feb. 28 and the March 2 stopgap renewal until March 28.