Name: Dallas gives city attorneys go-ahead to sue Netflix, Hulu, other streaming services over franchise fees
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Dallas gives city attorneys go-ahead to sue Netflix, Hulu, other streaming services over franchise fees

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12:30 PM on Feb 24, 2021 CSTThe Dallas City Council is giving the city attorney’s office the go-ahead to pursue a lawsuit against streaming services to collect franchise fees from their operators.The city wants to recover financial damages from Netflix, Hulu, Disney and “other video service providers” for their alleged failure to pay a franchise tax amounting to 5% of gross revenues under . AT&amp;T, which owns the HBO Max streaming service, already pays franchise fees to Dallas, according to a spokesperson for the city.The city said Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ have all failed to apply for a state-issued certificate of franchise authority, which would require the companies to pay the fee. Cable TV companies, for example, have paid the fees for years.Dallas will seek to collect fees dating back to 2007 and an order forcing the companies to pay fees in the future, according to city documents. The City Council approved the legal action Wednesday.The city believes streaming companies should be on the hook for the fees because they deliver their services to customers through wirelines located “at least partially in the public right of way,” according to city documents.Dallas plans to retain three law firms to represent the city. It said the firms — McKool Smith, Ashcroft Sutton Reyes and Korein Tillery — are already working on similar cases in other municipalitiesThe action by the city comes as traditional tax revenue sources have felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hotels in the Dallas area, which pay a portion of revenue in hotel occupancy taxes, have taken a in the last year, and TV providers like AT&amp;T are shifting content distribution to streaming services as cord cutting by cable customers grows.Dallas is the latest U.S. city to sue streaming services over franchise fees. A telecom attorney Ars Technica last year that it doubted a similar lawsuit in Indiana would be successful because streaming services don’t require a cable system to deliver their services.The city of Kenner in Louisiana also sued Netflix and Hulu earlier this year, citing a similar state law to Texas’ Public Utility Regulatory Act. Multibillion-dollar streaming giant Netflix has that streaming companies shouldn’t be treated like cable and internet access providers and that the tax would be passed on to consumers.Become a business insider. Get the latest headlines delivered to your inbox every weekday.By signing up you agree to our

12:30 PM on Feb 24, 2021 CSTThe Dallas City Council is giving the city attorney’s office the go-ahead to pursue a lawsuit against streaming services to collect franchise fees from their operators.The city wants to recover financial damages from Netflix, Hulu, Disney and “other video service providers” for their alleged failure to pay a franchise tax amounting to 5% of gross revenues under . AT&amp;T, which owns the HBO Max streaming service, already pays franchise fees to Dallas, according to a spokesperson for the city.The city said Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ have all failed to apply for a...

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Dallas gives city attorneys go-ahead to sue Netflix, Hulu, other streaming services over franchise fees

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