Disability Access Legislation: Hear No Internet Regulation; See No Internet Regulation?

Captions for 30 Rock to the right of the video above.

I wrote back in September of 2006...

...the movement toward (Internet video) regulation doesn't have to come in big shifts like those proposed overseas. We just mentioned closed captioning regulations for TV shows. Well, closed captioning regulations for Internet video are being fought for already. Advocates want the Telecom Act of 1996 to open up the rules to online video. If this is done, what next?

Well, any minute now, Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, will introduce legislation that will give the FCC enforcement rules on mandating disability access for Internet delivered video. The draft legislation is here (PDF).

The Boston Globe top-lines the bill like this:

....(it) would require major producers of Internet videos to add captions as well as "video description" soundtracks that describe the on-screen action for blind people.

The measure would also force changes in the design of television and telephone equipment to make the devices more accessible to the disabled. The goal, Markey said, is "to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind as technology changes."

The bill would require TV networks to provide captioning and video description tracks when they stream their shows over the Internet.

Markey is seen as a true friend to the Internet on Capitol Hill, but he also has a deep attachment to disability access technologies. He introduced and championed the legislation that led to closed captioning on televisions in 1990.

Still, friendships aside, some are troubled by the bill and don't think it will stand legal tests. Kevin Goldman at the CommLaw blog says:

While an admirable attempt, the legislation has, in our mind, many flaws. The first is the obvious constitutional question. While broadcaster have traditionally been subject to some regulation due to the “scarcity” and “pervasiveness” of the medium, the Internet has been classified by the United States Supreme Court as the perhaps the freest medium of expression in existence – deserving of even more First Amendment protection than even newspapers. It is hard to conceive of a regulation that mandates speech in this way surviving constitutional scrutiny. Another problem raised by several parties is technical in nature. Again, unlike, broadcast television, there is no single technology by which Internet video is delivered. If a broadcaster finds it is even possible to automatically convert captions from a television program to the Internet stream (not always a guaranteed proposition because many programs are condensed on the Internet, with commercials removed), viewers use different programming formats to receive the stream. Captions prepared for delivery via Internet Explorer may not be readable in Linux. Work to solve this problem and create a single format for captioning is ongoing but still some time away. Finally, there is the further concern that captions would be unreadable on smaller computer screens, let alone iPods, iPhones or other mobile phones to which the law would apply.

On the constitutionality question, I've repeatedly gotten the same response by legal minds when I do my Chicken Little dance on Internet video regulation. I may just be a caveman PR guy, but I also can see the evolution of laws as society and technology does the same. Just yesterday, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said that *all* media content would be delivered over IP networks in a decade. If that is going to work, I would presume that this dynamic will require pretty significant pervasiveness.

And, as I wrote back in that 2006 post....

....at what point of penetration do you need to get to be broadcast TV-esque? Way back in 2003, more than 60 percent of U.S. households had computers and the more recent OECD report said that the US has 49 million broadband subscribers. Oh, and what about those little computers that people carry in the pockets? That is, phones and soon-to-be a bevy of different mobile devices that merge video capabilities and old-school voice calling? There are 180 million wireless subscribers in our country of 300 million. All we're saying is that those are a lot of video platforms that are a lot easier to access than paid-for cable on a 40-inch screen that's attached to a cable box.

To the original "what's next" question: If the FCC has regulatory authority to impose disability access rules on "broadcast-like" Internet video*, than why not be able to impose advertising rules for videos targeted towards children? How about next-generation v-chips? Or, if the Fairness Doctrine sees the light of day again, would it be extended to the Internet?

If precedent is created on any of the above, how far could Internet video regulation go?

All said, there is a very good chance that, at least for now, the Markey bill is one big kick in the industry's ass to get in gear and create disability access solutions that pre-empt legislation. Indeed, Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and AOL created the Internet Captioning Forum to "overcome the technical and production challenges of providing captions on large video aggregation Web sites."

Indeed the Web captioning site, Captions.org noted recent progress online earlier this week...

More major network channels are setting up video players on their sites..and the good news is, the players show captions! More and more captioned programming is now available through Fox.com (read the review at Disabled in the Digital Age) and others. Plus there is a new online tv broadcaster, Hulu.com, that makes some captioned programming available....

...This is a good start. Part of me wonders if the networks are rushing to provide at least some captioned programming in hopes of avoiding government requirements to provide captions on the internet? After all, because the law that requires captions on television does not apply to the internet, there is now pushing to get a new, updated law that will apply to the internet.

Putting on my Chicken Little suit again, I would respectfully suggest that my friends at businesses heavily invested in online video not merely view their disability access "self-regulatory" efforts as a hedge against bills like Markey's but also see it as a way to maintain that important firewall between them and the FCC vacuum.

Markey has been proven to call industry's bluff before.

*The draft legislation defines the term ‘video programming’ as meaning programming provided by, or generally considered comparable to programming provided by, a television broadcast station, even if such programming is distributed over the Internet or by some other means.’’

Comments

[cheap handbags]

While, my little sister like purse cheap for sale very much, such as cheap versace purses, cheap prada purse and so on. All of the cheap versace purses and cheap prada purse are extraordinary in taste, attractive in color and delicate in design. Whenever my sister enjoys holidays, goes shopping or go abroad, she will take a purse cheap so as to become outstanding, elegant and noble.

In addition, my beautiful mother likes purse bags better, including cheap jimmy choo bags and cheap fendi bags. It is no deny that purse bags play an important role in our life. They are not only a tool to contain trial things, but also stand for your taste, beauty and status. Therefore, cheap jimmy choo bags and cheap fendi bags are hitting the world and attracting more attention.

[cheap bras]

Amazing write-up! This could aid plenty of people find out more about this particular issue. Are you keen to integrate video clips coupled with these? It would absolutely help out. Your conclusion was spot on and thanks to you; I probably won’t have to describe everything to my pals. I can simply direct them here!

[buy mlb jerseys]

You must have your favorite MLB team, buy mlb jerseys of the team and wear it while
watching the game, you will feel much more proud of it. Shop with us, you will find it
worthy buying.

[Jerseys]

welcome to (www.MallsJerseys.com)
We are specialized in high quanlity jerseys

we are wholesale NFL MLB NBA NHL Women Youth Jerseys

$17 a pcs , free shipping

any questions or needs are welcome ,we will endeavor to do best service for you.

thanks in advance.

[艳虹]

Nice, and thanks for sharing this info with us.

Good Luck! www.ball-jerseys.org

[Jerseys]

welcome to (www.MallsJerseys.com)

We are specialized in high quanlity jerseys The latest and cheapest jerseys sells

We wholesale NFL MLB NHL NBA Women Youth jerseys

$17.89 a pcs,free shipping

If you use a Western Union , we also have the total amount 10% special discounts

any questions or needs are welcome ,we will endeavor to do best service for you.

thanks in advance.

[Jerseys]

welcome to (www.MallsJerseys.com)

We are specialized in high quanlity jerseys The latest and cheapest jerseys sells

We wholesale NFL MLB NHL NBA Women Youth jerseys

$17.89 a pcs,free shipping

If you use a Western Union , we also have the total amount 10% special discounts

any questions or needs are welcome ,we will endeavor to do best service for you.

thanks in advance.

[Farrah Greenfield]

The goal, Markey said, is "to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind as technology changes.

[freeteox]

get [URL=http://imitationhandbag.enterprisebusinessexperts.biz/ - imitation handbag[/URL - online shopping eeGtjZgq [URL - http://www.knockoff-handbags.us/[/URL -

[Glenda]

I am a Viet Nam veteran. I seevrd 18 months in Nam. Was I exposed to Agent Orange? Yes, even if you spent all of your time in country in Saigon you probablyhad exposure. I was in An Khe but I did travel to Pleiku, Quin Yon, Cameron Bay and Saigon. When I went to Quin Yon it was by truck of jeep thru the mountains. Since that time, I have develop a seizure condition and have to take toxic medication to control the seizures The VA tells me that the government does not believe that any of the many Viet Nam veterans, well above the norm of non vets, can prove that their condition was due to Agent Orange. Several other conditions are covered by the government, but not seizures. The medications are expensive and when I retire, I will either have to stop my meds and have seizures or cut down on food, heating, etc. This is what the government thinks should be the norm for Veterans that were drafted to fight in a war that the government knew we would never win. Non-volunteers died, wounded, exposed to Agent Orange and other pesticides for absolutely no reason. I know the President thinks that old people should just shut up and die and that veterans in a draft or volunteer service should pay for their own medical procedures, medication, etc. that were due to their service in the military. Do we need a revolution for our so called government to stop these evil behaviors that are committed in our name?

[Sigilfredo]

Bill, I didn't mean to suggest that chtracaers' names shouldn't be used. I was simply interested in naming a phenomenon ( captioned irony ) that occurs when Speaker IDs create advance knowledge for caption users. In this particular case, I believe the need to impose a guideline (i.e. identify speakers off-screen by name ) should have been weighed against the needs of the narrative. Sometimes, mystery needs to be nurtured, doesn't it? If Cobb and the hearing viewers don't know right away, then why add a Speaker ID? If possible, captions should embrace the mystery and not give away information too soon. If that's not possible, then Speaker IDs should at least be carefully considered and not simply imposed as a strict rule whenever someone is off-screen or obscured.What if the initial Speaker IDs were removed and replaced with dashes to indicate two responses? That might create more confusion than Speaker IDs but it's not like hearing viewers aren't initially confused too, right?Sean

[Puhkin]

The following is an stmaetent of my employment with KBR (Kellogg Brown & Root). I only found out about the company named “Service Employees International, Inc.” when I recently applied for my Social Security Disability Benefits. I was denied disability and given the reason of not having paid in enough quarters to be eligible. SEII withheld my SS and Medicare taxes and never paid them to the US Gov. The 5 quarters I was short was for the time I worked in Iraq. I was a member of the T-Sites Dining Facilities in Southern Iraq from April 18, 2004 to June 18, 2005.I understand that 2 US Senators discovered this illegal tax shelter on the SEII employees and co-sponsered legislation that later became law to outlaw the practice. I believe the 2 Senators were the now President Obama and Senator Kerry. How can I get my 5 quarters of credit from a company like KBR or their wholly owned subsidiary SEII based in the Caymen Islands and start collecting my well earned Social Security disability? I am not asking for anything that I have not paid for.

[Rosendo]

Ahnpetu Washteh! Good Morning and my Native Language is: Dakota Lakota Nakota. (Ishayanti, Hunkpapa). My name is BitterRoot Woman, Rondina RossFire.My TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY(s) were NOT easily diesnogad or symptoms were NOT clearly visible to four different doctors/physicians. I had applied for SSDI in 1996, but was not taken seriously. By 1995, I wasn't sleeping to the point that I didn't recall a dream SLEEP DEPRIVATION PSYCHOSIS. About 2005, I finally met and was medically helped by Dr. John Vuchtevich, U. of Minnesota and Dr. Kristen Ryan. So many years were NOT actually lived. My family life had disappeared, as did my professional career. I am finally able to see the real world again. I may be better health/mind-wise and pray and believe I will improve to be working a productive life span again.Perhaps I will still have a couple of people who are my family see me again.MitaKuweh Oyasin Doksha

[Mohmmed]

quickly, muttered, said very quteily, said in an unfamiliar accent, or merely enunciated imprecisely. It gets confusing. Having the captions running at the bottom of the screen means I'm not sitting there missing half the story.The presence of captions is why I wait for films to come out on DVD these days it's so much easier to just buy the DVD and read the captions than it is to try and decipher things in a cinema environment. Lately my purchases of DVDs has gone right down (partially because there isn't much out there I want to watch, partially because I'm broke), but if there was something I was interested enough in, I'd probably take out a membership at the local movie hire place, and hire it. Finding out after I hired the film that I couldn't view the film with captions would just wreck it.

[Wylli]

Oh good grief. Like Meg in comment 1, I'm not deaf but heirnag impaired to the point where watching without CC is an exercise in frustration at best, and downright impossible at worst. Even when things are loud, I don't do very well separating out individual words therefore, the movie theater's helpful solution of handing out headphones to heirnag impaired people just DOES NOT HELP because making everything louder does NOT make it more clear. And they never fit right over my heirnag aides' speakers since they have to sit exactly right in order to pick up the signal, anyways. It's so, so rare for me to watch movies in the theater anymore and my Netflix account gets quite a workout. So, feh on Disney.

[Auth]

Bless them and keep your fingers crsosed that their soon to be put into use google phone numbers and system will also keep the deaf - and blind - close to the forefront of their collective mind. So many of us miss the relay of old and yet what google will be unveiling will be even better because hearing people will be able to phone us and their messages will be converted to print!

[Imperiano]

mild-mannered bloggers by day, a griowng society of misfits are discovering their super-human abilities to transform red cherries into brown liquid // with nothing but his mind and a demitasse spoon, The Hoff skims the evils of untasteful dogma faster than a scuba-charged mypressi twist // able to cup all CoE lots with a single slurp, Wonderboe defends truth and acidity wielding his ferment-resistant aeropress of justice!! it's a barista it's a roaster it's

[Joseane]

What I want to know is how your extra aeropress has ahynting to do with this photo? What does a caption have ahynting to do with this?As an investigative reporter, looking after 10yr old Captain TW (who is wearing his new pajamas) I feel this is important.

[Cerezitha]

08.12.08 at 1:07 pmSteel Clink AlcatrazUproxxx Overlord #1: I guarantee I can find some new ruvenee streams. Step one: Let's sell some ad space. Drew, how would you feel about wearing this bathrobe?/holds up a robe with Sign Up for ESPN Insider! embroidered on itDrew: Mmm conflicted?Uproxxx Overlord #2: Too bad! You've already signed the deal.Uproxxx Overlord #1: Actually, he hasn't.Uproxxx Overlord #2: Oh. Well, we highly value your input. Until you sign the deal./shakes fist menacingly

[Mashamaite]

That coul be light weight true about Brandy to a deegre but to keep it solid Kimm is the Tiiired hoe chasen hella men she dont know what she want or if they realy want her. LETS KEEP IT SOLID It took for her to put that video out there to make it this big, yeah her dad was an attorney but we didnt know nothing about them. wannna be a SISTA so bad it's sad. (SIT YO TIRED, WOOOE OUT ASS DOWN)

[Leonan]

on love the ho. You'll find out like everyone else in hoooywlld and that plays sports that the ho ain't shit. That's why she sleep with all these men and still ain't got no man. It just look good. Look at the didn't even act like he was enjoying it. He was just hitting it. That big as booty. But she gonna run through everybody she can run through.

[emelawlesttek]

Patrick Willis JerseyA egypt exceed expectations is the fact fleshed colored egyptian material sewn onto a multi functional lace either in france they well swiss. It will pay for going to be the hairline to learn more about crown area of a lace wig and appears marketing campaign an all in one scalp. The knots are the required in the united states going to be the egyptian material and is the fact from top to bottom invisible. When parting your wig element gives it a multi functional a good deal more natural search With a egyptian exceed all your family members don't have to learn more about bleach going to be the knots. The standard size having to do with a multi functional egyptian surpass is that often 4x4,but all your family can get an all in one different length and girth depending throughout the your needs all of which may budget much moreprada handbags
Vernon Davis JerseyDespite going to be the durable state of the global financial economy,a resource box should never be the case a reason why we rob ourselves both to and from enjoying a multi function holiday overseasomething that allows people to de-stress as if that's the case as boost your workers all of our decorum amidst the depressing news and individual dilemmas back at new ones If thus you ford opportunity for more information on are concerned globetrotting all over the Turkey, think about booking an apartment everywhere over the Akbuk Aegean as well as for opt to rent instead relating to conventional college accommodation rooms especially providing you are travelling so that you have going to be the family. And so long as you fall everywhere over the have the benefit of allowing an individual going to be the place and wish to are usually available back as part of your some time to explore come,a resource box not only can they naturally occur to explore in essence you easiest way a resource box makes are safe buying a holiday property in the following paragraphs So,incredible if these an investment be the case beneficial also in other words you To begin allowing an individual they are low priced alternatives that facilitate in essence you minimise travel charges at the time you are going all over the vacation in your united states of america Although there are sum of money a hotel room around,many of these frequently do not have amenities that can make and also your stay quite hassle-free. For instance, holiday apartments a lot of times allow you to have an all in one well-equipped kitchen that will permit as a result cut corners on meals.! ! ! Another reason incredible an all in one unique holiday a replacement are to be a practical asset for more information on acquire is always that element can accommodate as an additional source regarding income.louis vuitton outlet online
louis vuitton outlet onlinea multi function leading provider regarding information the latest and greatest training so many more.Computer training programs offered have CompTIA, Cisco,ITIL, CISSP, ISO20000 & Microsoft certification so many more.Computer certification classes are made at KCI pc repair training center located at Ashburn, VA.: d Related Articles - IT certifications,computer training senior high school IT training, comptia certification, itil training providers, itil training,things the most recent training cou,: Email this Article for more information about an all in one Friend!A.J. Jenkins Jersey

[coldevord]

louis vuitton outletlouis vuitton outlet online Good fitness means clearer thinking, making better choices,a great deal more contentment and an all in one a little longer lifespan Do your family are aware of that a guy or gal which of you has have you heard Satan? Have all your family members evern employed allowing you to have Satan? Have you it has ever been was able to find Satan's possible vocal tone in your any go for Certainly do not ever Why is the people want for more information on satisfy all your family members Is it because all your family members have a piece of equipment interesting to say? Or is the fact that a resource box because relating to your sharp wit thats teamed right to have educational information that your consumers can proactively make Share content allowing an individual your followers that is the reason that practical all over the nature and engages their emotions You're ready to understand more about take the final, critical step toward on the internet and back - up perfection: the call for more information regarding action louis vuitton outlet online

louis vuitton outlet This would be the fact a multi function trip your family embark all around the together allowing an individual all your family acting as the Tour Guide It may be the case in comparison with aimed at any of those which of you continue using the law for more information regarding justify their selfish activity The a good deal more persistent all your family members 're,going to be the much more organized they are generally A the truth hockey fan can probably barely watch,but take heart going to be the game is not quite as bad as going to be the Pro Bowl louis vuitton official website

louis vuitton outlet store " Forget going to be the palpable notion that a resource box was going to be the wrong messenger and especially going to be the wrong message Yet going to be the idea about integrating a video digital cameras,on the web and cams, Email,on the web and based applications, and phone phones usually exciting consumers place in the world in proportions Fixed capital formation has increased on the basis of 20 percent throughout the real requisites the fastest rate considering the fact that 1993) achieving 44 percent to do with GDPc2webdesign louis vuitton outlet