The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:
“Broadcasters hold a public trust, whether they like it or not. They receive billions of dollars in free publicly owned spectrum to distribute their programming.
“It is truly disappointing that broadcasters would leverage their programming to deny access to viewers who watch the shows over another medium — on cable or online. When a broadcaster exercises its market power in pursuit of maintaining a business model while stifling competition by blocking Hulu, Fox.com (or Google TV), the broadcaster violates that public trust and harms consumers.
“It is time to bring a rational structure to the rules and laws governing the retransmission of TV programming. If online video is to emerge as an independent medium, it must be free from the power that broadcasters bring to bear.”