F.C.C. Proposes Changes in Cable Set-Top Box Market - The New York Times

Out of the box thinking; also see It’s Time to Unlock the Set-Top Box Market (Re/code article by Tom Wheeler); tangentially, see Hate your cable company? Superfast, wireless Internet is coming (CNet)

"The F.C.C., though, said its focus was on improving people’s television experience. The clunky technology of cable boxes, and the burdensome requirements of long-term contracts, have long been a source of customer complaints. Tech companies like Apple and Amazon make devices that connect to televisions and have new interfaces, but they provide streaming Internet video and do not replace the cable box.

“It’s time to unlock the set-top box market — let’s let innovators create, and then let consumers choose,” Tom Wheeler, chairman of the F.C.C., wrote of the proposal on the technology news site Recode. The F.C.C. estimates that prices for the devices rose 185 percent over 20 years, even as prices for smartphones and other electronics plunged."

F.C.C. Proposes Changes in Cable Set-Top Box Market - The New York Times