The FCC voluntarily has revised its definition of ‘unencrypted br...

The FCC voluntarily has revised its definition of “unencrypted broadcast TV” in its encoding rules to square a “potential conflict between our stated intent and the scope of the rules” in its order and a further rulemaking notice addressing the commercial availability of navigation devices and compatibility between cable systems and consumer electronics. The rules prohibit the down resolution of unencrypted broadcast programming and caps on the level of copy protection that may apply to some categories of multi- channel video programming. The caps included a prohibition against placing copy restrictions on unencrypted broadcast TV. “Our stated goal in adopting these encoding rules was to strike a measured balance between the rights of content owners and the home viewing expectations of consumers, while ensuring competitive parity among MVPDs,” the FCC said. However, the agency said the limitation of encoding rules for broadcast could “inadvertently be interpreted to create a competitive disparity” because some program distributors encoded their broadcast signals and others didn’t. The FCC said that could create confusion among consumers who might expect certain recording capabilities no matter what technology was providing the programming. The order on reconsideration revises the prohibition to encompass all broadcast TV programming that is unencrypted when broadcast, regardless of the form in which it’s carried by a distributor.