Pay-TV Set-Top Compromise Wasn't Offered in DSTAC Because Standard Wasn't Ready
Pay-TV carriers didn't offer their compromise set-top proposal during the Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee (DSTAC) process because the HTML5 standard it's based on wasn't complete, said AT&T Senior Vice President-Federal Regulatory Robert Quinn at a Phoenix Center event. “You can't really commit to build something that doesn't exist yet.” Recent acknowledgments of the pay-TV backed proposal by Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Google (see 1606210062) show the FCC-backed set-top plan “is on life support,” Quinn said Wednesday evening.
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Critics of the pay-TV compromise plan characterized it as an only slightly disguised version of the apps proposal backed by multichannel video programming distributors during the DSTAC, which included talk of using HTML5. The current proposal is different because it includes a requirement for MVPDs to offer their apps to third-party box makers at no cost and a universal search, and because HTML5 is now a complete standard, Quinn said. Though Quinn conceded the FCC proposal had had spurred MVPDs to offer the universal app approach sooner, he also said the industry already had been moving in that direction.
Large programmers that opposed the FCC set-top plan haven't weighed in on the MVPD compromise because they're still deciding if it satisfies their concerns, said MPAA Senior Vice President-Government and Regulatory Affairs Neil Fried. The compromise plan “has taken the discussion in a better direction,” Fried said.
The FCC's original set-top plan would “abrogate copyright” by allowing third-party box makers access to programmer content without licensing agreements, said Alec French of Thorsen French Advocacy. The specter of the FCC proposal may also be chilling investment in content, said Fried and French, who represents content creators. Companies that might otherwise have sought content licenses may not do so if they believe they can get access to that content through the FCC plan, French said.
The FCC plan would be disastrous for small cable carriers, said American Cable Association Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Ross Lieberman. The cost of providing the information streams that would be required by the FCC plan would drive many smaller operators out of the business, he said.