In “Taxpayers should cut the FCC’s allowance” (April 13, 2015), it is almost amusing to see Andrew Langer accuse someone of authoring a response “fraught with basic factual errors” (as Mr. Langer accuses the FCC Chairman of doing) because when it comes to generating “basic factual errors,” Mr. Langer is a serial offender.
Issues of FCC policy — including whether over-the-air broadcast TV services should be freely accessible through TV sets sold in the U.S. — may be subjects of fair debate (on which we take no position), but for Mr. Langer to disseminate incorrect information in support of his opinion is deceitful and irresponsible.
Despite having been corrected on these same matters previously, Mr. Langer once again fails to explain that the ATSC and MPEG-2 standards were developed by standards organizations unaffiliated with MPEG LA. Neither has the government agency (FCC) that requires every TV set sold in the U.S. to include an ATSC receiver granted any licensing privileges, exclusive or otherwise, to MPEG LA. MPEG LA has not been granted exclusive licensing privileges from anyone, for that matter.
Even if no licenses were available from MPEG LA, ATSC TV suppliers would still need licenses under applicable patents from each patent owner because the digital terrestrial television standard known as ATSC is the result of patented inventions owned by numerous enterprises. Like other patented inventions, the patents grant their owners certain rights over use of the technology for a limited period of time in accordance with the U.S. Constitution and applicable law.
As a convenience to the market and an alternative to negotiating direct licenses with individual patent owners (which ATSC TV suppliers are still free to do), MPEG LA offers voluntary nonexclusive one-stop licenses that include as many essential patents as possible from multiple patent owners for the same royalty. Numerous enterprises who invested the time and money to develop the technology and voluntarily agreed to offer alternative access to it under MPEG LA licenses share in the royalties that MPEG LA collects from some 150 licensees supplying most ATSC products in the current world market.
The result of this efficiency is that instead of passing on the costs of uncertainty and conflict to consumers, ATSC TV suppliers have enjoyed the opportunity to focus their resources on developing innovative products for sale in a level, highly competitive market at a reasonable cost.
Lawrence Horn is President and CEO of MPEG LA, LLC. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions for editorials, available at this link.
