Every year, American cable-TV subscribers spend $231 on average to rent cable boxes that they should be able to buy outright.
Last month, the chairman of the F.C.C., Tom Wheeler, proposed new regulations that requires cable companies to accommodate competing devices. Wheeler wants cable businesses like Comcast and Time Warner Cable and technology companies like Google and Amazon to jointly develop technical standards for cable devices.
The telecommunications industry is arguing that his proposal amounts to needless government meddling will stifle innovation. These are self-serving arguments by an industry that is, understandably, afraid of losing billions in revenue.However, his proposal doesn’t require consumers to make any changes. Anybody who is happy renting a cable box, can keep doing so.
FCC Votes to "unlock the box"