NCTA told FCC in its 3rd progress report on compatibility between...
NCTA told FCC in its 3rd progress report on compatibility between cable systems and consumer electronics equipment that “significant progress” was being made on technical specifications in 3 areas agency originally asked about: (1) Unidirectional receiver capable of direct…
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connection to cable system. (2) Receiver that also could support advanced and interactive services. (3) Bi- directional receiver that could do all of above. NCTA said it and CEA had negotiated and agreed to specifications for analog TV and DTV programs transmitted in clear and use of security module supplied by cable operator that would allow pay-per-view and subscription programming to be unscrambled. Report didn’t address CEA complaints that cable operators hadn’t set timetable for implementing standards or resolved CE manufacturers’ problems with Point of Deployment-Host Interface License Agreement (PHILA). Main sticking point on PHILA is that CEA feels it allows cable operators undue control over content and would violate consumers’ home recording rights. NCTA Gen. Counsel Neal Goldberg said that issue wasn’t addressed in progress report because that wasn’t what FCC had asked about in its report and order. “It sounds like their filing addresses a much broader set of issues,” Goldberg said. Nevertheless, he said, cable operators want “tools, not rules” on content and want to negotiate best, most liberal deal possible on home recording of programs because that would most satisfy cable subscribers. However, copy protection tools must be in place, he said, because otherwise program providers wouldn’t negotiate with cable, and cable wanted to compete with DBS operators, which already had such licensing provisions in place. Goldberg said document wasn’t meant to be status report on whole DTV transition, but instead was on finite subject matter. Still, he said he was optimistic that NCTA and CEA were moving toward resolution on those other outstanding issues. CEA, in its response, took note of fact that only 3 manufacturers -- Motorola, Scientific-Atlanta and Pace Micro Technology, which already were working with cable -- had signed PHILA. CEA spokesman also said NCTA was asking CE manufacturers to simply trust that cable operators would use copyright tools appropriately. “We need to have some assurances,” he said.