• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, August 1, 2016

Earlier this year, the FCC proposed new set-top-box rules that would enable consumers to easily access television programs on devices like tablets and smart TVs.

That proposal, known as "unlock the box," called for new regulations that would enable companies other than cable and satellite providers to develop boxes that can access pay-TV programs. The plan quickly drew the support of the White House as well as consumer groups, who say that new regulations could ultimately save consumers money.

Currently, customers who purchase pay TV from cable and satellite providers typically rent set-top boxes, at an average cost of $231 a year. Many customers who also watch online video on a TV screen use separate streaming devices -- like Rokus or Amazon Fire TVs -- while people who watch TV shows on tablets or smartphones often do so via apps.

The cable industry, which opposes the FCC's original proposal countered with an alternative plan, "ditch the box." That plan would require pay-TV operators with more than 1 million customers to offer programs via apps. The providers' idea, however, has several glaring flaws, according to consumer advocates. Among others, cable companies won't promise to let consumers record programs via apps.

Late last week, the advocacy group Public Knowledge argued to the FCC that consumers should be allowed to "engage in activities that are plainly fair uses."

The organization added that the Supreme Court ruled back in 1984 that consumers have the right to time-shift programs by recording them for later viewing. Subsequent decisions clarified that consumers also have the right to "device-shift" by copying programs to mobile phones, as well as the right to skip the ads, according to Public Knowledge.

"In short, that consumers are permitted to record, copy, convert, and play back lawfully-acquired copyrighted content for personal fair uses is by now a settled point of law," Public Knowledge writes in an FCC filing submitted Friday. "Commission action around standards for video devices should recognize this, and not give any stakeholder the ability to restrict consumers’ lawful activities."

The Computer & Communications Industry Association, which counts Amazon and Google among its members, raised similar concerns with the FCC.

"Consumers’ rights to record programming and 'time shift' have been permitted by law for decades," the CCIA writes. "The DVR has become wildly popular and is now an almost standard offering of cable companies."