The FCC wants to disrupt the cable-box industry in a big way

The cable box — a staple of any household that pays for television since the late '80s — may finally be loosening its stranglehold on the way we consume TV. That is, if the Federal Communications Commission has anything to say about it.

FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler announced today the agency was putting forth a proposal to turbocharge competition and innovation regarding cable boxes. The goal, Wheeler says in an op-ed on Re/Code, is to give consumers more choice when picking the equipment they use to watch the channels they pay for.

The proposal specifies that consumers should have the choice of watching programming on their set-top box or any other device, including smartphones, tablets and even a set-top box built by a third party. It specifies that cable and satellite companies should be required to provide three things to manufacturers looking to build a competing device: Read more...