Pay-TV Carriers, Set-top Manufacturers, Associations Lobby FCC on DSTAC Report

The proposal for a downloadable security solution advocated by the Consumer Video Choice Coalition (CVCC), isn't a sound basis for a rulemaking, a group of pay-TV companies, set-top box manufacturers and associations said in a meeting Tuesday. They met with Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, FCC Chief Technology Officer Scott Jordan and Media Bureau staff, said an ex parte filing in docket 15-64. The industry delegation included the American Cable Association, Arris, AT&T, CableLabs, Comcast, MPAA and NCTA, and was composed mainly of entities that had supported the multichannel video programming distributor-backed proposals in the Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee final report.

The proposals outlined by CVCC members in recent communications with the FCC are substantially different from their original proposals, the filing said: The latest CVCC proposal uses “an entirely different set of proposed technical standards” than the DSTAC report did, requires an additional MVPD-provided device in every home, and doesn't address many issues raised by the industry commenters. The CVCC proposal would “ignore the copyright licensing terms used across the MVPD and online video distributor (OVD) ecosystems that power all of the programming and choice in distribution platforms today,” the filing said. The CVCC proposal would also impose costs on MVPDs and infringe on privacy, the industry group said. “These burdens would handicap MVPDs, particularly small MVPDs.”

Meeting with the FCC in such a large group suggests that the pay-TV companies are concerned that the DSTAC process is going to lead to an rulemaking, said Public Knowledge Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer. Public Knowledge was a DSTAC member and is part of the CVCC. When large groups meet with FCC officials, it's generally intended as a demonstration of the breadth of support for their position, he said. One industry official with an interest in the DSTAC proceeding said that the large group is an attempt to intimidate the FCC, and is likely a reaction to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's recent statement that he expected something to come out of the DSTAC process, which the chairman said wasn't intended as an “academic seminar.”

The meeting shows that the MVPDs are taking the DSTAC issue “seriously” and the CVCC will likely have a serious response, Bergmayer said. Much of the MVPD criticism of the CVCC-backed proposal and the recent filings by PK is false, Bergmayer said. The proposals the group advanced in the DSTAC haven't changed; the recent filings are just an attempt to explain them more clearly, Bergmayer said. “We think it's pretty straightforward.” Replies on the final DSTAC report are due Monday, after NCTA failed to get an extension because of what the group said were changes in CVCC and Public Knowledge's position (see 1511040048).