SoylentNews

NotSanguine [soylentnews.org] writes:

Jon Brodkin over at Ars Technica is reporting [arstechnica.com] on the FCC's proposal [fcc.gov] to require pay-tv providers to make content available to third-party devices.

From the article [arstechnica.com]:

The FCC is planning for a software-based, cardless replacement for CableCard. Without needing a physical card that plugs into a third-party set-top box, consumers would be able to get TV channels on tablets, smart TVs, or set-top boxes that they can buy from other companies instead of renting a box from a cable company.

"Consumers should be able to choose how they access the Multichannel Video Programming Distributor’s (MVPDs)—cable, satellite, or telco companies—video services to which they subscribe," the FCC's summary of the proposal said. "For example, consumers should be able to have the choice of accessing programming through the MVPD-provided interface on a pay-TV set-top box or app, or through devices such as a tablet or smart TV using a competitive app or software. MVPDs and competitors should be able to differentiate themselves and compete based on the experience they offer users, including the quality of the user interface and additional features like suggested content, integration with home entertainment systems, caller ID and future innovations."

The proposal summary says the goal is to "unlock the set-top box."

Unsurprisingly, cable operators were nonplussed by the FCC's proposal. Previous coverage of this issue at Ars [arstechnica.com] details the cable industry's take on this:

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), a cable lobby group, told the FCC last week that the CVCC proposal "would require re-architecting much of the MVPDs’ infrastructure, from back-office systems, to headends, uplinks, and central offices, delivery platforms, network equipment, content servers, and security components, as well as creating and deploying new devices for the home."

The NCTA said that the CVCC idea "requires consumers to lease a new government-mandated box from their MVPD in order to serve retail devices." (CVCC disputed this in one of its own filings, saying that "No separate device is necessary unless the operator prefers to provide one." Public Knowledge told Ars that cable companies could either provide new hardware or update the software on existing cable modems or set-top boxes in order to deliver pay-TV content to third-party devices.)

The NCTA also argued that open access to pay-TV content would let builders of third-party devices make TV service worse. Device makers could "rearrange, exile, or drop channels and overlay ads and drop apps and interactive elements that are parts of MVPD service," the group wrote.

"It would allow tech companies like Google to take content, slice and dice and re-purpose it in any way it wants, collect and monetize customer viewing data without Title VI privacy safeguards, and create an entirely new video service without negotiating or paying for it," the cable lobby said.

Opponents of the proposal are taking an interesting (like an automobile crash) view of the FCC's proposal:

Wheeler's proposal will face opposition from cable companies and advocacy groups that are sympathetic to the industry. Free State Foundation [freestatefoundation.org] President Randolph May argued that the set-top box market is already competitive and that the FCC proposal would violate the First Amendment.

"It's clear that government prescription of navigation device content, which is what the FCC will do as it determines acceptable presentation and menu formats and the like, violates the First Amendment free speech guarantee," May claimed. "This won't likely concern the Commission, but it should concern all those who care about keeping the government from dictating speech content and who respect the First Amendment."

What say you, Soylentils? I think the FCC's proposal might actually help the cable operators remain at least partially relevant, if its content can be packaged by third parties. Apparently, the cable industry disagrees.

This story is also being covered at The Verge [theverge.com], Re/Code [recode.net], The New York Times [nytimes.com] and NPR [npr.org], among others.

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