Battle over Cable Boxes (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 19, 2014 |
| Report Number |
IN10180 |
| Report Type |
Insight |
| Authors |
Scherer, Dana A. |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Disagreement over requirements for the set-top boxes in viewers' homes is delaying congressional action on a bill to extend a 2010 law governing satellite television. Unless the issue is resolved before year-end, approximately 1.5 million satellite subscribers may lose access to broadcast television. The dispute is about rules established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), pursuant to Section 629 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. §549). In June 1998 theFCC took steps to encourage competition in the market for devices to access video services from Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs), such as cable operators, yet allow MVPDs to prevent theft of their video services. Most of the devices in this market are set-top boxes that consumers lease from their MVPDs. In addition, other types of devices, such as digital video recorders from TiVo and cable-ready television sets, can be purchased from retailers. As part of this balancing act, the FCC requires MPVDs to separate the decryption technology that allows subscribers to watch the signals for which they have paid (and prevents theft of the MVPDs' video services) from the navigation (tuning) function of the set-top box. The MVPDs must provide the separate decryption component to both subscribers who purchase third-party devices at retail outlets and subscribers leasing set-top boxes. The separation requirement for their own boxes is also known as the 'integration ban.' The integration ban has been in effect since July 1, 2007.
