[opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2016 09:50:24 -0400
On Sep 29, 2016, at 11:05 PM, Manfredi, Albert E <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I have to believe that it's Michael Powell speaking for the NCTA, with what
I've always considered to be good common sense. It seems that the NCTA's
position is consistent with their new Internet "branding." Something along
the lines of, "We don't need no stinkin' STB rule, because that whole STB
concept is phasing itself out anyway." Notice how the NCTA lists all the
Internet appliances that are usable already, for TV watching.
Perhaps the whole MVPD business is about to be radically transformed?
It is interesting to see how Bert navigates these waters, and to try to
understand why he is unable to see the path to the future.
Clearly the cable STB is still the primary gateway to the big screen in he
family room. It is equally clear that there will soon be viable options to
access ALL popular TV content via the Internet on the entire range of devices
listed in the article.
Bert has been critical of TV Everywhere, not understanding the significance of
this collaboration between the MVPDs and the content owners. Essentially, with
TV Everywhere, EVERYTHING is in place to offer Virtual MVPD service without the
dedicated MPEG-2 TS and cable STBs.
But there's one catch, both in Bert's mind and apparently in the mind of three
FCC Commissioners: the issue of application licenses, and whether the FCC
should be in the position of reviewing and regulating them.
Bert reveals his true regulatory stripes with this comment:
All the FCC had to do is classify broadband under Title II. The rest falls in
place all by itself. It seems from this article that many hand-wringers
haven't figured it out yet.
Perhaps in a very perverse way, Bert is right.
First the FCC moved to regulate the broadband pipes under Title II, opening up
the door to future FCC regulation of ISP services. Clearly this was a mixed bag
for the NCTA.
On one hand they instantly became the dominant monopoly provider of broadband
service as defined by the FCC (25/3). On the other, the door is now wide open
for the FCC to regulate ISP rates, interconnect agreements, and other aspects
of operating ISP services.
None of this is related in any way to the STB NPRM that was placed on hold
yesterday. The only common factor here is the role of FCC as the regulator.
Second, the FCC proposed opening up the market for STBs in a manner that would
allow them to "backstop App licensing agreements," essentially regulating the
licensing terms for every App that is used to access TV entertainment content
via the Internet.
These are the licensing agreements that Bert likes to call "collusion" between
the content owners and the device makers. A good example is the Apps that were
just released by Yahoo to provide access to content on Hulu servers for Yahoo
View.
They could regulate Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, Yahoo, the broadcast.com sites and
Apps, and any new entrant in the future. The FCC would have the authority to
regulate every TV Everywhere App. With Hulu about to offer the first serious
VMVPD service by the end of the year, the content owners saw the real ulterior
motive in the STB NPRM.
The FCC would have the ability to regulate the pipe, and the content that
represents the highest economic value flowing through those pipes.
From the article:
Rosenworcel, whose vote is key, has had issues with the proposal to have the
FCC backstop app licensing agreements and reached out to programmers this
week to clarify their problems with the item. Programmers said they still had
many.
While the latest iteration of Wheeler's set-top proposal was said to have
backed off the FCC's explicit role in backstopping app licenses to make sure
they are reasonable and not anticompetitive, that did not appear to be enough
for programmers.
According to various sources, the proposal also has included a complaint
process by which the FCC could review issues with the app licenses.
According to an ex parte letter to the FCC dated Sept. 28, programmers made
it clear that if the FCC were in any way involved, they could not support the
item.
The big picture has become a bit clearer.
The FCC has been tasked with opening up the market for STBs since the mid '90s
- they totally dropped that ball. And then, when the marketplace is on the cusp
of solving the problem, the FCC wants to get in the middle of the "solution."
Even a Democrat appointee sitting on the FCC has seen the true intent here.
Let's home she hit the "abort" button, not the pause button.
Regards
Craig
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Other related posts:
- » [opendtv] B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting - Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: B&C: Set-Top Box Proposal Pulled From FCC Meeting- Craig Birkmaier