CABLE, STUDIOS, CE INDUSTRY DISPUTE SET-TOP OUTPUT CONTROLS
Selectable output controls (SOC) emerged as latest battleground between consumer electronics (CE) companies and cable and content providers in most recent round of filings at FCC (CS 97-80). SOC is proposed feature of set-top boxes that would allow cable operator to remotely disable ability of box to feed content to various devices or to allow only lower-resolution feeds. Cable says SOC is necessary to remain competitive with other distributors. CE industry says implementing SOC is “betraying assurances recently given to the Congress and to the consumers.”
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Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC) filing said implementing SOC as part of cable POD-Host Interface License Agreement (PHILA) could deny all HDTV programming to some cable subscribers and limit capability of CE products. HRRC said several studio heads in 3 separate Capitol Hill hearings had denied they had plans to use SOC to limit access to programming for copyright reasons, but said MPAA had “joined the cable industry” in supporting SOC. Coalition said SOC would mean consumers would lose their rights to both home viewing and home recording if SOC were implemented in current form.
NCTA, meanwhile, submitted report to FCC Media Bureau Chief Kenneth Ferree Thurs. saying lack of SOC capability in new set-top boxes “would place the cable industry at a significant competitive disadvantage” with DBS and other program distributors. Assn. said DBS already had SOC capability, so program distributors felt more confident about making programming available to DBS: “The debate over copy protection and selectable output controls has arisen in a climate of fierce competition for programming. DBS providers enjoy an exemption from the navigation device rule; they therefore can and do specify exactly the features -- including if they wish copy control tools and selectable output controls.”
It’s “incongruous at best” for CE industry to want to deny SOC capability for cable set-tops since they make and sell DBS devices that include that capability, NCTA told FCC: “Second, much of this debate arises from the failure of the consumer electronics industry to provide interfaces and appropriate copy protection mechanisms.” It also said DTV sets continued to be sold without copy protection.
SOC also provides “effective response” for widespread security breaches, NCTA said, although “security is not the only legitimate use.” Group said including SOC would allow cable to “accommodate future business models.”