In a report released last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a Congressionally mandated report on what would likely result if the statutory copyright licenses under which cable and satellite retransmit television programming were eliminated and replaced with marketplace negotiations. Local carriage rules would become impractical and the effect on the programming market, regulatory environment and consumer prices for cable and satellite would be uncertain, according to the GAO.

To review a summary or complete copy of the report, click here.