A group of makers of consumer electronics and...

A group of makers of consumer electronics and technology companies sought an FCC rulemaking on “opening the market for device competition in rendering programming and services” and on an Internet Protocol-based gateway between external and home networks. The AllVid Tech Company Alliance, which has sought for some time an FCC proceeding on an “AllVid” device, said it wants the agency to “recognize the importance of effectuating the mandate of Section 629” of the Telecom Act with “consumers having true choice” in accessing multichannel video programming distributor content. “It is not enough to point to proprietary technologies that work only for limited services and only with particular systems,” said the group that has included Google and Intel (CD Nov 19 p6). A lawyer for the group met with Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and aides, who heard that consumers shouldn’t “be limited to renting MVPD devices with little control or innovation in how they view MVPD video programming and services,” read a filing posted Friday in docket 97-80 (http://bit.ly/1dYZG8F).