[opendtv] Re: News: Reps. Barton, Stearns Offer Alternative DTV Bill

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 13:42:55 -0500

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

> HUGE DIFFERRENCE!
>
> The ATSC process was closed to paying members and operated without
> the benefit of any real FCC oversight. It was driven by the desire
> to protect the TV industry from the obvious competitive impact of
> emerging technologies. Many WRONG decisions were made that still
> need to be corrected.
>
> The IETF operates in a far different fashion, via consensus, not
> closed door meetings.

Okay, I will grant that this is a huge difference, if the ATSC is closed
door and does not depend on consensus. Whether FCC oversight should be
part of the equation is another matter, though. I don't think it should.
If FCC staffers want to participate in the ATSC as individuals, though,
that should be just fine, IMO.

> And they typically codify existing practices that have become
> defacto standards, rather than trying to control the direction of
> new technology. And most important, they have never gone to the
> politicians to MANDATE any technologies and force them upon
> consumers...

No doubt, you're referring to 8-VSB and MPEG-2. Yeah, I sort of agree.
Although TV was an established service that everyone already depended
on, back in 1991, whereas the Internet grew out of nothing. The
situation now is not so different, though. You won't see any rapid
migration away from Ethernet, for instance, or even from IPv4, because
the Internet has become something that households depend on. There would
be a huge backlash if someone tried to make all PCs and networks
obsolete overnight.

> And predictably, the ATSC standard is now largely becoming
> irrelevant as is TV broadcasting in the U.S.

(It's very relevant to me. It's the only way I get TV, aside from
low-bandwidth, low-quality Internet TV.)

I doubt ATSC has much to do with this "relevance." I think the problem
is that even before talk about DTT started anywhere, i.e. even before
1991, the US was being cabled up for subscription TV. I don't think that
DTT usage is limited in the US *by* the ATSC standard. More like, people
are willing to spend the money for MVPD dependency. And MVPDs use other
(very similar) protocols in their walled gardens.

I think where you come from is that ATSC might be preventing the TV
frequency bands from being grabbed by other, competing interests, that
have nothing to do with TV distribution.

Bert
 
 
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