[opendtv] MPAA Plans
- From: Bill Hogan <billhogan1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 05 Jun 2005 17:37:23 -0700
MPAA may back off broadcast flag
Jun 5, 2005 8:00 AM,
The Motion Picture Association of America appears unlikely to push for a
broadcast flag
component in DTV legislation establishing a 2008 hard date because the bill’s
main author,
House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), is against the provision,
according
to a report in Communications Daily.
Meanwhile, the MPAA will keep briefing House and Senate members on what it
considers is
the broadcast flag bill’s importance and will seek other ways to get the
content
protections it wants.
Also on the DTV legislative front, Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK),
said last
week that he is “toying with the idea” of requiring companies that continue to
manufacture
analog televisions after a certain date to supply digital converter boxes with
those sets.
In another report in the National Journal, Stevens said that type of
requirement would
help ensure that households that purchase analog sets — and do not subscribe to
cable or
satellite services — could continue receiving over-the-air signals after
broadcasters
complete the digital transition and return all channels on the analog spectrum
to the
federal government.
Stevens said foreign manufacturers are selling an increasing number of analog
sets, even
though U.S. broadcasters are in the process of shifting to digital signals. He
said
households that buy new analog sets after a certain date should not have to
shoulder the
costs of the digital converter boxes.
Current law sets Dec. 31, 2006, as the target date for the return of the analog
spectrum.
However, it provides exceptions for broadcasters in markets where less than 85
percent of
households are able to view digital broadcasts.
A draft bill unveiled last week by Barton and Rep. Fred Upton, (R-MI), sets a
Dec. 31,
2008, deadline for returning analog channels to the government. That bill does
not contain
a provision for subsidies to lower-income consumers for the purchase of set-top
boxes to
allow analog TV sets to receive digital signals. However, Democrats contend the
legislation will not pass without such a provision.
Stevens declined to comment on whether he would support the 2008 deadline in
the House
draft legislation. But he said he would favor “arranging [the transition] so we
can
maximize the concept of raising the money that this spectrum should bring to
the government.”
MPAA Executive Vice President John Feehery confirmed to Wired News that Barton
told the
organization he doesn't support broadcast flag provisions in his bill. But
Feehery said
the group hasn't determined its next course of action.
The MPAA began its legislative push on Capitol Hill shortly after a May 6
ruling by the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
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