Are You Still Settling For Cable? A Case for Broader Application of the FCC’s Over-The-Air Reception Devices Rule

Authors

LaVonda N. Reed-Huff

Abstract

Many renters in the United States have no choice when it comes to selecting a video or communications service provider for their residence, due to their inability to install satellite dishes on their rental property. Because of this lack of choice, many must rely on traditional broadcast television, cable service and traditional telephone dial-up for receiving video programming and accessing advanced technologies such as the Internet. Others simply go without service altogether. While the FCC has attempted to address this problem, the rule they have promulgated, known as the "OTARD Rule," fails to go far enough to make video and communications services available to all Americans regardless of their status as renters or property owners. This Article proposes an expansion of the rights granted to tenants under the modem leasehold, and makes a case for broader application of the OTARD Rule in order to fulfill Congress's objectives under the Telecommunications Act without triggering a takings problem.

Recommended Citation

LaVonda N. Reed-Huff, Are You Still Settling For Cable? A Case for Broader Application of the FCC’s Over-The-Air Reception Devices Rule, 26 UC Law SF Comm. & Ent. L.J. 179 (2004).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_comm_ent_law_journal/vol26/iss2/1