CE Lobby Seeking Greater FCC Oversight on Downloadable Security
CE industry lobbyists have begun emphasizing a fallback position in their dealings at the FCC, if the Commission sides with cable and decides to extend the July 2006 integration ban on digital cable set-tops.
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In wake of Microsoft switching sides and joining Comcast and Time Warner Cable to ask that the July 2006 deadline be extended by 6-18 months for development of a downloadable security system, CEA urged the Commission that any extension of the deadline be accompanied by “meaningful and transparent reporting requirement” for MSOs to assure “their quality support” of CableCARDs.
CEA also asked the FCC last week to adopt reporting requirements to measure the development progress of the downloadable security proposal. Comcast, Microsoft and Time Warner Cable said they would deliver the FCC full technical specifications on a downloadable security system and a timeline for implementing it, but haven’t said when those might become available. CEA said again it wasn’t necessary to repeal or delay the integration ban to achieve a downloadable security solution, “and any arguments to the contrary are merely efforts to stall implementation of the existing rule.
Because downloadable security is being developed under nondisclosure agreements, “it has not been presented to an open standards forum, and there are no opportunities for public technical discussions,” CEA told the FCC. “We urge the Commission to get this issue out into the open -- and keep it in the open -- so all impacted parties can see whether this is a viable solution,” it said. Completing work on downloadable security “means completion of all standards, the license, and support in all cables’ headends,” CEA said.
Calling for stricter Commission oversight on the development of downloadable security specs and licensing terms, CEA was seconded by several of its member companies. For example, Pioneer and Sony, like CEA, said in a joint ex parte that the FCC needs to require that downloadable security technologies receive approval from an ANSI-accredited standards body.
Sharp went even further in demanding that the FCC keep closer tabs on cable’s commitment to CableCARDs if it decided to extend the July 2006 deadline. It suggested the Commission set new rules on MSOs’ CableCARD compliance. It urged that the rules require regular reports from cable indicating specifically how many subscribers had requested CableCARDs. Of those, it asked that these questions be posed and answered in the reports: (1) How many had a successful CableCARD installation. (2) How many appointments did it take? (3) How many hours were spent on the installation? (4) Were there problems? (5) Was CE manufacturer support required? (6) How many wound up leasing the MSO’s set-top box instead? (7) How many resulted in a DTV set being returned to the store?