Verizon Pushes for Delay in Cable Box Output Requirements in Response to TiVo Waiver
The FCC Media Bureau should push back by at least 18 months a Dec. 1 deadline to begin using standard home-networking outputs on cable boxes, Verizon said in response to a petition by TiVo to be temporarily let out of those rules. TiVo’s petition “generally underscores the need for broader relief across providers and equipment,” Verizon said. Verizon said it plans to introduce a new device -- the Verizon Media Server (VMS) -- that will let customers use third-party devices to access and control its FiOS service.
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"While the rollout of this innovative device is just months away, some of the technical standards that the device will ultimately support ... are still in the works,” Verizon said (http://xrl.us/bnrdtp). And Verizon and other pay-TV distributors will need time to incorporate them into devices like the VMS after the industry-standards have been set, it said.
The NCTA urged the bureau to refrain from saying which technology will qualify as an open industry standard under the FCC’s home networking rules, as TiVo had requested. “One of the lessons learned from earlier efforts at specifying set-top outputs was that technology changes far more rapidly than FCC rules do,” the NCTA said. Additionally, it asked for any relief given to TiVo to apply to beyond TiVo. “If the Commission provides relief to TiVo by delaying the effective date of the interface rule or otherwise, it should likewise do so for all set-top box manufacturers without the need for each of them to request a separate waiver."
The FCC should grant TiVo’s waiver request and take up a more comprehensive rulemaking on the subject, the AllVid Tech Company Alliance said (http://xrl.us/bnrdvn). It submitted a discussion document (http://xrl.us/bnrdvr) with suggestions for implementing a “universal interface” for MVPD services and third-party devices. The CEA also supported TiVo’s request and urged the commission to set new rules for IP interfaces with MVPD services (http://xrl.us/bnrdwj).
Mediacom said (http://xrl.us/bnrdta) it has faced demands from programmers in carriage negotiations that it disable or not include over-the-top video functionality in its set-top boxes, even though retail set-top boxes such as TiVo offer the same features. The TiVo waiver proceeding is the second one in which Mediacom has aired this issue. The company raised similar concerns in the commission’s program access proceeding (http://xrl.us/bnrdsj) “Mediacom urges the Commission to clarify that programmers may not demand and cable operators may not enter into contractual arrangements the effect of which are to restrict consumers’ access to and/or use of substantially non-infringing devices that do not harm the network,” Mediacom said.