This week's decision by the FCC to adopt a digital television standard could turn broadcasters into a new breed of Internet service provider.
Although legal wrangling and political posturing could delay that scenario, early indications are that broadcasters will have plenty of leeway to make a grab for your Net dollars.
Here's why: The FCC has allowed broadcasters to use part of their new digital spectrum to transmit "large amounts of data." This, of course, could take many forms. The possibilities range from the ability to download celebrity information during your favorite sitcom to getting sports statistics while you watch the Super Bowl.
Now, if the broadcasters are going to be sending data anyway, why shouldn't they expand that concept to offer their own Internet access service? The answer is more complicated than it sounds.
For one thing, broadcasters have always had a pact with the government: You give us free spectrum, and we'll offer free TV and adhere to public interest obligations. This is why you don't pay to watch Seinfeld. It's also why you don't hear profanity and other objectionable stuff on broadcast TV. Broadcasters have to air public service announcements, children's programming ... the list goes on and on. (You didn't think they wasted commercial time on that stuff voluntarily, did you?)
But in the new digital world, the question is whether any of this applies to Internet access. Would broadcasters have to screen out objectionable Web sites if they became ISPs on the side? Would they have to provide access to "public interest" sites? These may seem ridiculous questions, but consider this: All indications on Capitol Hill are that the broadcasters will get their new digital spectrum for free.
This means that lawyers from other telecom companies offering video and Internet services could make a plausible argument that broadcasters shouldn't be allowed to charge for use of something they got for free - even if they offered free TV services at the same time. Or they could argue that they should at least be held to public-interest restrictions. This means that your local TV station likely won't offer Internet access until these issues are resolved. And that could take years.
