The US Federal Communications Commission has adopted a Report and Order changing registration and certification requirements for a limited group of video programmers. The relief covers programmers carried only on exempt public, educational and governmental access channels, plus individual programmers on nonbroadcast networks where the network certifies that all programming is exempt or compliant.
The order does not remove the substantive requirement to provide captions where the rules apply. It changes who must submit contact and compliance information to the Commission in the specified circumstances.
Why it matters
Broadcasters, networks and programme suppliers need to distinguish administrative relief from a content exemption; treating the order as permission to stop captioning would be incorrect. The rule changes are not yet operational: Office of Management and Budget review, Federal Register publication and a later FCC public notice are still required before the effective date is set.
