Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules
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Re: Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules
#2Comcast is being willfully uncomprehending. The FCC is telling them to provide means to programmatically identify a subscriber, authorize the subscriber's device or program, get an available content list, and then receive a media stream. IP, QAM, fuzzy pen-and-ink sketches on vellum, whatever, as long as they document it well enough for anybody else to write to the spec.
Comcast uses Lawyers; it's partially effective.
If the FCC had more pull they would ask an industry consortium together with Public Knowledge and EFF to design an API, and then mandate the use of that API on all video systems.
That would then collapse as the cable companies desperately want to avoid competing with each other.
Re: Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules
#3Comcast is being willfully uncomprehending. The FCC is telling them to provide means to programmatically identify a subscriber, authorize the subscriber's device or program, get an available content list, and then receive a media stream. IP, QAM, fuzzy pen-and-ink sketches on vellum, whatever, as long as they document it well enough for anybody else to write to the spec. Comcast uses Lawyers; it's partially effective…
Most of the objections from the cable companies seem to be about DRM concerns, licensing (from studios), and ad-stripping. If 3rd parties are allowed to remove or replace ads, it will dramatically change cable television, and mean that consumers will have to pay for all the costs of television program production themselves, without the subsidy of advertisers. I am not sure whether that would be better or worse than the current model, but it is not obviously better.
I am not sure that the FCC has the authority to mandate the creation of an API. Putting that aside, how exactly would you force agreement on an open API? What do you do if parties disagree? You can't always split the difference, and you may end up with a very limited API which could even be unworkable. This could end up like the cable card, which was eventually recognized as a failure and discontinued.
You are also skipping over some of the more problematic issues with the FCC proposal, such as how the cable companies must certify that 3rd party boxes maintain user privacy. I am not sure how the cable companies are supposed to do this, and it seems like the FCC is just using that requirement as a way to blame the cable companies when the 3rd parties inevitable do violate expectations of privacy. The FCC is doing this because the FCC has no authority to regulate the 3rd parties.
Re: Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules
#4From the monopolists' perspective, I guess every day you delay can be measured in vast sums of money. Moreover, if they're aware of the reality that the "Set top box" has a very limited lifespan in the future, they may just be milking the market while they have it, and to hell with anything else.
Re: Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules
#5Guessing that Comcast is willfully ignoring how cable TV works in Germany and presumably much of the rest of Europe. We have smartcard readers (and cards) that we slide into the appropriate slot on our TVs that do the decoding. I paid 4 EUR/mo. for mine because I knew I was moving, but could have bought it outright for less than 80 EUR. The optional external receiver instead of the smartcard reader was 100 EUR.
Then again, even the most expensive cable package runs about 35 EUR/mo. There is no HBO, though.
Re: Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules
#6Comcast is being willfully uncomprehending. The FCC is telling them to provide means to programmatically identify a subscriber, authorize the subscriber's device or program, get an available content list, and then receive a media stream. IP, QAM, fuzzy pen-and-ink sketches on vellum, whatever, as long as they document it well enough for anybody else to write to the spec. Comcast uses Lawyers; it's partially effective…
Most of the objections from the cable companies seem to be about DRM concerns, licensing (from studios), and ad-stripping. If 3rd parties are allowed to remove or replace ads, it will dramatically change cable television, and mean that consumers will have to pay for all the costs of television program production themselves, without the subsidy of advertisers. I am not sure whether that would be better or worse than t…
The FCC had authority to mandate CableCard; that's an API with an embedded hardware implementation.
How do you force compliance? There are always ways. Remember the digital transition? There were carrots and sticks for broadcasters, TV manufacturers...
Why do you think the FCC won't have authority to regulate the third parties? The FCC has jurisdiction over interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. I don't see why that would end at the demarcation between a TV service and a set-top box, app, recorder or TV, and history says it does not end there.
Re: Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most of the objections from the cable companies seem to be about DRM concerns, licensing (from studios), and ad-stripping. If 3rd parties are allowed to remove or replace ads, it will dramatically change cable television, and mean that consumers will have to pay for all the costs of television program production themselves, without the subsidy of advertisers. I am not sure whether that would be better or worse than t…
The FCC had authority to mandate CableCard; that's an API with an embedded hardware implementation. How do you force compliance? There are always ways. Remember the digital transition? There were carrots and sticks for broadcasters, TV manufacturers... Why do you think the FCC won't have authority to regulate the third parties? The FCC has jurisdiction over interstate and international communications by radio, televi…
The digital transition wasn't an issue of carrots and sticks, it was an issue of 'we're taking the spectrum back, so deal with it'. The FCC owns the spectrum, so it had broad authority to do almost whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted to do it.
The FCC can force the cable companies to comply with almost any regulation, but the issue is how you create the API. Do you vote on contentious issues? Do you have an FCC arbitrator/mediator? What happens when there is a conflict, or the API needs to be changed? What can the FCC do when an (unregulated) 3rd party messes with the API?
The FCC doesn't think it has the authority to regulate third parties, which is exactly why its proposals require cable companies to certify that the third parties will follow FCC regulations. If the FCC had any authority to regulate third parties, they would; the FCC is not exactly restrained in its regulations. This is not conjecture, I heard an FCC commissioner explain that this was the reasoning.
Re: Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules
#8From the monopolists' perspective, I guess every day you delay can be measured in vast sums of money. Moreover, if they're aware of the reality that the "Set top box" has a very limited lifespan in the future, they may just be milking the market while they have it, and to hell with anything else.
> I guess every day you delay can be measured in vast sums of money.
Comcast's revenue stream generates about $9 million dollars per HOUR[1]. So yes, every day they delay nets them more money than most people can comprehend. That's not to say that all of their revenue is directly tied to their set top boxes, although a huge portion of it certainly is. It nicely illustrates their monstrous incentive for preserving the status quo every minute (worth $143,000) they can.
Re: Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules
#9Guessing that Comcast is willfully ignoring how cable TV works in Germany and presumably much of the rest of Europe. We have smartcard readers (and cards) that we slide into the appropriate slot on our TVs that do the decoding. I paid 4 EUR/mo. for mine because I knew I was moving, but could have bought it outright for less than 80 EUR. The optional external receiver instead of the smartcard reader was 100 EUR. Then…
Comcast already supports cablecard. They have to by law. The FCC proposed regulations go further than cable card.
Re: Comcast says it’s “not feasible” to comply with FCC cable box rules
#10s/feasible/profitable