Lawyers for the NCTA, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable and Comcast...
Lawyers for the NCTA, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable and Comcast lobbied FCC officials on a proposed waiver of an FCC ban on encrypting the basic cable service tier for all-digital cable systems, ex parte notices and a letter to the…
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commission show (http://xrl.us/bms9bz and http://xrl.us/bms9b5). Allowing encryption of the basic tier would reduce service visits and signal theft, the letter said. Boxee and its customers, who have opposed the cable industry waiver request, will still have options should the commission proceed with a waiver grant, the letter said. They can still watch over-the-air broadcast TV signals, subscribe to a basic-tier package and, “like other basic-only customers, qualify for a free set-top box or CableCARD under the proposed equipment conditions,” the letter said. And Boxee could build a CableCARD slot into its device to access encrypted channels, the letter said. “We understand that Boxee would prefer that all cable operators rely on traps to accommodate Boxee’s business decision to launch Live TV without accounting for encryption,” the letter said. But “traps were designed for an analog environment,” it said. The lawyers also threw cold water on an FCC staff idea to relocate clear QAM channels to higher frequencies and install low-end traps, the letter showed. “The suggestions would be very expensive and technically challenging and would still result in a less secure, less flexible approach than the basic encryption technology that is used by every non-cable MVPD."