FCC Wades into Online Video Closed Captioning Rules
More regulations, more problems
The FCC released its "Order on Reconsideration and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" in June, which modified and clarified its original Report and Order. The rules, which took effect in September 2012, primarily covered full-length TV programming, but starting the end of next month (Sept. 30), all pre-recorded video programming that is "substantially edited" for the Internet must be captioned if it was shown on television with captions, according to the FCC. (Changing the number or duration of commercial spots is not considered "substantially editing.")
At the same time, the manufacturing deadline for video devices to be able to process closed captioning is not until Jan. 1, 2014 (and will be extended for Blu-ray and DVD players). But such devices will not be required to actually be available to consumers by the deadline. DSLRs are exempt, and most TV video "clips" and outtakes streamed online also will not require captioning.
(Hat tip to Jeff Patterson)
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?