Timeline for Captioning TV Shows

Hollywood want the FCC to lighten up on it's proposed captioning rules for captioning TV shows on the Internet. The Motion Picture Association of America is asking for more time, claiming a six month deadline is a nearly an impossible task (some video categories would get a year under the FCC's plan). Film and TV show producers say, in a letter to the Commission, that its voluntary approach was working just fine before the FCC proposed new rules to force them to move quicker. What's pushing the discussion is a requirement by the Twenty-First Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act, that the FCC come up with new regulations for closed captioning for shows available on the Internet by January 12, 2012. The Commission wants the captioning of major TV shows as they re-air. But the Association is suggesting it work on the basis of when a show was originally produced. It is asking for 48 months to get the video on their own websites captioned, 72 months for shows on other websites produced since 2006, and 96 months to get shows on other websites created before 2006. The FCC does not require the captioning of clips or outtakes, only full-length shows and the regulations do not apply to individuals who are posting video.