ROBERT MENENDEZ 
NEW JERSEY 
COMMITTEES: 
BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN 
AFFAIRS 
FINANCE 
FOREIGN RELATIONS 
ilnitcd ~rates ~cnatc 
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-3005 
May 19,2016 
The Honorable Thomas J. Wheeler 
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission 
445 12th Street SW 
Washington, DC 20554 
Dear Chairman Wheeler and Members of the Commission: 
528 SENATE HART OFFICE BUILDING 
WASHINGTON, DC 20510 
1202) 224-4744 
ONE GATEWAY CENTER 
11TH FLOOR 
NEWARK, NJ 07102 
(973) 645-3030 
208 WHITE HORSE PIKE 
SUITE 18-19 
BARRINGTON, NJ 08007 
(856) 757--£353 
The Commission's recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to inject competition into the set top box 
marketplace is laudable in its objective. I commend you for addressing this important issue. However, 
similar to any proposal designed to make substantive changes within an established industry, a number of 
potential concerns have been raised by the affected stakeholders. As the video marketplace is a 
competitive and innovative environment, I ask how the Commission's proposal will address these 
concerns. 
Protecting intellectual property through copyright is essential to ensuring the television industry continues 
producing new and unique programming for consumers. This programming is centered upon a 
contractual relationship that governs content, advertising, and channel placement. However, concerns 
have been raised that third parties will not abide by the terms of the negotiated contract under the 
Commission's proposal. I ask how third parties will be affected by the negotiated contractual 
relationships between content providers and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD). 
Programmers also rely on licensing agreements they make with television providers to ensure the security 
of their content and safeguard against piracy. Therefore I also ask what protections are in place within the 
Commission's proposal to ensure that third parties will abide by any content security provisions in 
programmers' agreements with MVPD providers. 
Consumers from diverse communities depend on minority programmers for coverage of issues that are 
specifically important to them. Their interests sustain minority-owned programming, and any proposal 
should encourage a more diverse array of voices. Therefore, I ask what affect the Commission believes 
the proposal will have on minority programing, and I further ask what other efforts are being made to 
encourage additional minority voices in broadcasting. 
Thank you for your attention to this important matter and for answering my questions. If you have any 
questions, please feel free to contact me or my Counsel Andrew Geibel at 202-224-4744. I look forward 
to working with you to ensure the Commission's policies support a competitive industry in which 
intellectual property is protected and companies are encouraged to create diverse and high quality content 
for consumers. 
Sincerely, 
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