[IP] Heading off a potential FCC debacle
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dewayne Hendricks <DEWAYNE@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: September 22, 2006 1:11:10 AM GMT+02:00
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Heading off a potential FCC debacle
Reply-To: dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Heading off a potential FCC debacle
By Randolph J. May
<http://news.com.com/Heading+off+a+potential+FCC+debacle/
2010-1047_3-6117902.html>
Story last modified Thu Sep 21 12:01:59 PDT 2006
A decade ago, Congress decided cable companies and their competitors
should allow consumer electronics manufacturers to make "plug and
play" set-top equipment that would work with any cable or direct-
broadcast satellite service. Rather than leasing it, consumers could
buy such equipment from multichannel video program distributors.
So it was that Congress authorized regulations in 1996 to ensure that
equipment used to access multichannel video programming would be
available at retail from entities unaffiliated with cable or direct
broadcast satellite service operators.
Congress' goal may have made theoretical sense then in the staid,
still fairly monopolistic world that characterized analog
communications. However, the rapid changes in technology and the
marketplace spurred by the digital revolution require that the FCC
revise its equipment regulations, or their costs to consumers will
far exceed their benefits.
With a firm digital-TV transition date, it is counterproductive to
deter consumers from switching by raising their price.
First, some history.
In 1998, the FCC directed the cable industry to develop a physical
device--now called a CableCard--containing the security functions
that could be inserted into the equipment of independent manufacturers.
That made sure that their boxes could be used with cable systems
around the country. The FCC thought that this separate security
device would allow multichannel video program distributors to retain
control over the security function while enabling independent
entities separately to market navigation devices.
The cable industry has so far supplied about 200,000 CableCards for
use in more than 140 models of digital cable-ready devices. But the
vast majority of cable subscribers continue to use equipment leased
from their cable companies.
The FCC went further. In 1998, it required that all multichannel
video program distributors stop selling or leasing new devices that
integrate both security and nonsecurity functions by 2005. This rule
meant that all equipment used to access cable services would rely on
common technology--like the CableCard.
However, the agency exempted from this integration ban multichannel
video program distributors that support the use of equipment
available in unaffiliated retail outlets and that operate throughout
the United States.
Direct-broadcast satellite service providers were the only
multichannel video program distributors that qualified for the
exemption. That's because the FCC found that, unlike cable
subscribers, users of direct-broadcast satellite services could buy a
device and use it anywhere in the country. Thus, cable operators were
covered by the ban, while their principal competitors were not.
The pace of technological developments has only accelerated since
1998. In March 2005, the FCC extended the integration ban
implementation date to July 2007. Now the FCC again is considering
requests by cable operators to extend the date. But since the last
extension, the landscape has changed even more dramatically.
[snip]
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