The FCC has reworked the "unlock the set-top box" plan it first announced in February.
The current proposal (available here) retains the goal of video access without a service provider's set-top box, but backs off from previous requirements for pay TV operators to provide their content, guides and entitlements to third-party app and set-top producers. Instead, pay TV operators would be required to offer a free app of their own - based on widely deployed platforms, such as Roku, Apple iOS, Windows and Android - to allow their subscribers to access subscription video on any device.
The new proposal adds a requirement that any service provider video app provide non-discriminatory cross-platform search for a consumer to find any video his device can receive, be it from the service provider or some other source. It would also require the development of a standard license governing the process for placing an app on a device or platform. Operators with fewer than 400,000 subscribers would be exempt from the new rules. Other requirements from the original proposal remain largely unchanged.
The original proposal from February (available here) drew sharp industry criticism based on perceptions that it would weaken content licensing agreements and security, mandate another as-yet-undefined box in the home, and lead to disaggregation of service providers from the content they pay for and provide. Those flames were fanned by a White House blog post in April supporting the proposal; critics deemed the White House's involvement an executive overreach and interference with the FCC's independence.
The new proposal appears to be designed to address industry concerns, but still drew criticism.
A statement from Charter Communications read: "Enabling consumers to use apps instead of set-top boxes may be a valid goal, but the marketplace is already delivering on the goal without overreaching government intervention. The FCC's mandate threatens to bog down with regulations and bureaucracy the entire TV app market that consumers are increasingly looking to for innovation, choice and competition."
In its statement, the NCTA said, in part: "... the Chairman isn't just proposing a 'standard license' but a centralized licensing organization that would exist in perpetuity. The work of this licensing body would be subject to intrusive FCC oversight, creating a bureaucratic morass and improperly involving the FCC in private licensing arrangements in a way that will slow the deployment of video apps, ignore copyright protections and infringe on consumer privacy. This proposal would far exceed the Commission's legal authority and improperly insert the government into private contract negotiations between pay TV distributors, content creators and device manufacturers."
The Commission will vote on the new proposal at its next open meeting on Sept. 29.
Ron Hendrickson | Contributing Editor
As BTR's managing editor, Ron keeps the editorial wheels from coming off. He gathers and posts daily news, interviews cable's movers and shakers, and generally keeps his finger on the pulse of the industry. He joined BTR in 2010 and got his start in cable in 1998.