A joint statement from the commissioners Tom Wheeler, Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel said they are "committed to unlocking the set-top box for consumers across this country".
The Commission had already adapted the proposal significantly from its original plan, moving to a model of requiring pay-TV providers to offer apps for their services so they could be accessed on other boxes, such as Roku or Apple TV. However, the industry strongly opposed both plans, saying it would be too costly and complicated to implement. The Commission said the aim is to stop consumers having to pay hundreds of dollars to rent STBs from their providers, with no choice of platform to view their subscriptions.
Comcast welcomed the decision to delay the vote, saying the Commission had not spent enough time consulting the market on the proposal. According to the cable operator, "a broad range of content creators, civil rights organizations, labor unions, and others have concluded that the Chairman’s new approach does not solve the copyright, privacy, innovation and other significant concerns that were implicated in his discredited original proposal – and suffers from the same legal infirmities". Comcast noted that it's also working to give customers more access to their video services through its Xfinity TV Partner Program, but the government intervention could "stop the apps revolution dead in its tracks, and delay consumer choice".
