CABLE INDUSTRY SEEKING FCC RECONSIDERATION OF BROADCAST FLAG

NCTA was among those filing petitions for reconsideration or clarification of the FCC’s new rules on the broadcast flag. The rules were designed to offer some copy protection to broadcast content and prevent mass Internet redistribution. NCTA said there were 4 areas in which the rules or misinterpretations could cause “inadvertent departures” from the agency’s goals. The petitions were due Fri.

NCTA said the Commission put an “inadvertent freeze on network innovation” with the rule that said a multichannel video program distributor (MVPD) must “use 8-VSB, 16-VSB, 64- QAM or 256-QAM signal modulation” on its network. If an operator wanted to use a more effective signal modulation approach, it would have to seek a rulemaking or waiver, NCTA said: “The rule seems to place a straitjacket on network innovation by limiting the ability of the MVPD to change signal modulation techniques without a rule change or waiver if they carry any unencrypted over-the-air broadcast signals… Such a rule is entirely unnecessary to preserving the flag.”

The cable association also complained that the new rules gave a competitive advantage to DBS because satellite boxes were treated differently. NCTA said the FCC’s requirements included QAM demodulators used by cable but excluded QPSK and 8-PSK demodulators used by DBS. “Because of this distinction, the rules do not impose the same output, recording, robustness and similar requirements on manufacturers of retail DBS boxes, their retailers or the customers who purchase them,” NCTA said, so the broadcast flag rules therefore “impose more burdens on cable operators than they do on their chief competitors.”

While the FCC was clear about its intentions for consumer equipment, it was “a bit vague” about business equipment, never providing an explicit professional equipment exemption that would “give comfort to businesses that employ demodulation equipment in their ordinary course of business,” NCTA said. The association also suggested that if the FCC was offering such an exception through its rule requiring a “written commitment” exemption, cable operators shouldn’t have to go to the trouble. It said any MVPD that had filed a registration statement with the FCC should not be required to file an additional “written commitment” declaring itself a cable system so the FCC would consider it an MVPD under the broadcast flag rules. “This would be consistent with the Commission’s ongoing commitment to reduce unnecessary paperwork,” NCTA wrote.

Finally, the Commission should clarify that cable operators may distribute programming over “robust” home networks, NCTA said. The association believes the rule means programming could be transferred from one in-home device to another without an inspection for the flag in every transport. Requiring such an inspection would seriously slow a secure home network, NCTA said. The cable industry had suggested a “gateway device” to do the initial inspection but then allow content to be transferred between boxes within a secure home network. NCTA said that while it appeared the FCC had agreed with that approach, some industry players might think otherwise, so the agency should clarify the situation.