FCC Should Confirm IP Output Rule for HD Boxes No Longer Applies, Say NCTA, Verizon
TiVo is wrong about whether a rule requiring interactive HD set-top boxes to include Internet Protocol outputs still applies, but correct to ask that the rule’s enforcement deadline be extended, said NCTA (http://bit.ly/1jDF5eJ) and Verizon (http://bit.ly/1m6Sz44) in comments filed Friday in response to a January FCC Media Bureau public notice.
TiVo had asked the bureau to clarify whether the interoperability requirement still exists in the wake of the EchoStar decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and if it does exist, to extend the June deadline for compliance to make up for a delayed release of industry standards by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA). Though Verizon and NCTA disagreed with TiVo about whether the rule survived EchoStar, they joined with CEA in support of pushing back the deadline for compliance, and requesting a clarification from the bureau. Whatever their position on the rule, all parties “need to know whether the FCC believes compliance is required, and if so by what date,” said CEA.
The FCC should “confirm” that the interoperability rule no longer applies, said NCTA and Verizon in comments. The plug-and-play and encoding rules from which the interoperability rule comes were vacated by the EchoStar decision, said the association and the telco. Since the FCC never appealed the EchoStar decision, the rule no longer applies, NCTA said. Verizon and NCTA also argued that the rule shouldn’t be reinstated, contrary to a TiVo petition asking the commission to do so. The rule isn’t necessary and could stifle innovation, NCTA said. “Although the prescriptive rule no longer applies, there is no evidence of harm,” NCTA said. “The market is delivering IP outputs and a wide variety of other networking and video delivery approaches that do not depend on the set-top box output as the sole source of programming."
If the rule is found to still apply or it’s reinstated, the delayed completion of DLNA’s industry standards merits moving the deadline to comply with the rule, all the commenters agreed. “The lack of settled final standards significantly complicates” industry efforts to comply with the bureau’s June 2014 deadline to include IP outputs in HD boxes, Verizon said. New “CVP 2” industry standards had been expected from DLNA in 2013 when that deadline was established, but the new standards haven’t been published, TiVo said. “The actual progress appears at least a year behind the projection on which the Bureau relied,” said Verizon. That means it would be difficult for set-top box suppliers to meet the bureau’s deadline, Verizon said.
If the FCC does decide the rule still applies or reinstates it, the deadline for compliance should be extended “until the later of nine months after finalization of the DLNA CVP-2 specification or one year after the rule is reinstituted,” NCTA said. Verizon asked the commission to waive the rule for a year after the standard is published. Even after the extension, NCTA said any reinstated rule should have a three-to-five-year sunset clause. “Sunsetting the rule after a limited period of time would better accommodate clear marketplace trends towards solutions that are not so locked into set-top box outputs and avoid an indefinite competitive disparity among cable operators and other video providers,” NCTA said.
It’s projected the new CVP-2 guidelines will be available to the public in March, DLNA said. “This work is nearly done.” Products will be able to be certified to the DLNA CVP-2 Guidelines by September, DLNA said. The guidelines are intended to “advance the digital delivery of movies and network television to the home, enabling playback across TVs, tablets, phones, Blu-ray players and game consoles, while protecting the rights of copyright owners and content providers,” DLNA said. They include standards for authentication, low-power settings and “HTTP Adaptive Delivery,” which allows users to “react to varying access and streaming channel conditions by dynamically selecting suitable representation for the best viewing experience,” DLNA said.