Dish Joins Streaming Franchise Fee Fight Before 8th Circuit
Arkansas' Video Service Act (VSA), like comparable laws in other states, doesn't apply to Netflix and Hulu because they don't provide "video service" and thus don't owe franchise fees, Dish Network told the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday.…
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In a docket 21-3435 amicus brief backing the streaming services, Dish said the lower court was correct in saying even if they did provide video programming, it falls in the "public internet" exception in the VSA. Counsel for Ashdown, Arkansas, which is appealing the lower court's decision (see 2112230003), didn't comment. DirecTV filed a similar brief this week (see 2203150067).