more on FCC Bans Proprietary Set-Top Boxes - 11 years after Congress told them to...

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ethan Ackerman <eackerma () u washington edu>
Date: January 11, 2007 6:51:47 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] FCC Bans Proprietary Set-Top Boxes - 11 years after  
Congress told them to...

Greetings Dave,

It's worth noting that yesterday's FCC action was not some sudden
spark of FCC  enforcement, it was really nothing more than the belated
enforcement of a provision of the 1996 Telecom Act - a ban Congress
itself imposed.  The 1996 Act's requirement that CableCo's allow
competitors' equipment to connect to the cable network was supposed to
open up cable networks to vendor-neutral equipment like TiVos and
X-Boxes and iTVs.  The WSJ did a good job of illustrating how the
CableCo's managed to delay the Act's implementation - and they wrote
about the delay 2 years ago.

http://online.wsj.com/ad/article/oracle/SB111627935049735066.html

-Ethan

On 1/11/07, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: January 11, 2007 4:47:49 PM EST
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] FCC Bans Proprietary Set-Top Boxes
> Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com
>
> FCC Bans Proprietary Set-Top Boxes
> Posted on: 01/11/2007
> <http://www.xchangemag.com/hotnews/71h111355.html>
> Comcast and other cable companies must provide, by July 1, set-top
> boxes based on the CableCARD smartcard rather than proprietary set-
> top boxes that consumers now use to receive cable signals.
>
> That's the word from the FCC as the media bureau on Wednesday denied
> Comcast's request for a waiver on a ban not to offer integrated set-
> top boxes, which the FCC has contended stifle competition and
> consumer choice. Cable operators must deploy CableCARD-enabled
> devices, something that makes them unhappy because they stand to lose
> millions of dollars in revenue from renting proprietary set-top boxes
> to subscribers.
>
> The FCC did grant Cablevision's request for a two-year wavier and
> conditionally granted the waiver request of Bend Cable, a small
> operator in Bend, Ore.
>
> The FCC has moved its deadlines for CableCARD integration twice times
> over the past few years, in hopes that cable companies would develop
> downloadable security alternatives to the smartcard, but those hopes
> never came to fruition.
>
> On Wednesday, the FCC paved the way for consumers to eventually
> purchase, one time only, devices that will work with any cable
> operator's signals. Cable companies have protested this move, as they
> make several dollars on every set-top device in someone's home.
> Consumers with three of four of these boxes pay up to $20 more for
> cable service every month. That adds up to millions of extra dollars
> annually for operators.
>
> Comcast said it would appeal the decision.
>
> "We are very disappointed in this regrettable FCC Media Bureau
> decision," said David Cohen, executive vice president for Comcast, in
> a prepared statement. "This amounts to an FCC tax of hundreds of
> millions of dollars on consumers with no countervailing benefits. We
> will seek full commission review immediately."
>
> The National Cable & Telecommunications Association said it was
> "incomprehensible" that the FCC would deny the waiver requests as
> government officials make the transition from analog to digital
> signals a priority.
>
> Consumer and technology groups have blasted the original versions of
> the CableCARD, which have only enabled one-way, rather than two-way,
> communications. Newer versions seemed to have addressed that problem.
>
> The decision further affects manufacturers such as Motorola Inc.,
> Cisco Systems Inc., and Scientific-Atlanta, many of whom had
> supported Comcast's request for a waiver on set-top box requirements.
>
>
>
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