FCC sends wrong signal on digital TV

Mike Langberg in today's San Jose Mercury News: FCC sends wrong signal on digital TV. Excerpt:

In a free market, consumers vote with their dollars. We regularly endorse new technology that is useful, easy to use and affordable -- everything from digital cameras to DVD players to cell phones.

DTV [digital television] is none of these things. That's why the FCC should focus more energy on fixing digital television's shortcomings, rather than pushing consumers in a direction they don't want to go.

I expect the FCC to be neutral in how citizens spend their money, not working on behalf of broadcasters who are increasingly nervous about the poor return on billions of dollars spent in upgrading to digital transmission -- the cost of a transition the broadcasters themselves eagerly sought.