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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: VidiVici who wrote (47436)	11/6/1999 9:10:00 AM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Open Cable now has interim specs. Copy protection is still an issue................................. multichannel.com Broadband Week for November 8, 1999 Set-Top Specs Hit Deadline, Digital Copy Issues Linger By B. MENEZES & M. HOGAN November 8, 1999 The cable industry said it remains on track to meet federal mandates for retail availability of OpenCable digital set-top boxes with the public release of five interim technical specifications. Although a gulf remains between cable and some consumer-electronics manufacturers over how to provide copyright protection for digital content accessed over cable, the industry said the five OpenCable specs released Oct. 29 advance the preliminary specs that have gotten vendors started on making actual product. "Realistically, we needed to get a stable specification together in this kind of time frame if we wanted people to build devices ready for the market in July 2000," said Donald Dulchinos, recently appointed head of the OpenCable project at Cable Television Laboratories Inc. OpenCable is the CableLabs initiative to create protocols for advanced digital-cable set-tops that operate with standards-based cable systems from any other manufacturer. With the federal government mandate that cable set-tops be made available at retail, interoperability is a critical element to ensure that consumers can use their set-tops in any cable system and install them with "plug-and-play" ease. The interim specifications released by CableLabs are intended to be stable enough for manufacturers to create product based on them. They will be tweaked into final, "released" specs based largely on data gathered in the ongoing, rigorous interoperability testing by vendors with CableLabs. The five protocols define the OpenCable network interface between the headend and an OpenCable set-top; the interface between the host device (a set-top or TV with integrated set-top functions) and the point-of-deployment security module (POD); and other features of one-direction and two-direction set-tops. CableLabs also released a draft specification for the system being used by the host and POD to prevent unauthorized digital-content copying, based on the so-called 5C technology backed by cable, the Motion Picture Association of America, the National Association of Broadcasters and much of the consumer-electronics industry. The National Cable Television Association had assured Federal Communications Commission chairman William Kennard in May that by Oct. 31, it would provide solutions for issues with consumer-electronics makers over compatibility between digital-TV receivers and cable systems. Those solutions were to be based on a combination of 5C and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' 1394 "fire-wire" standard for a high-speed interface between cable set-tops and digital-TV sets. In a Nov. 1 letter to Kennard, NCTA president Robert Sachs reiterated cable's intention to move ahead with the 1394-5C plan, pointing to the OpenCable specs released just days before. "As a result of this commitment, the cable industry remains on target to begin to deploy set-top boxes that will contain the IEEE 1394 interface and the 5C content-protection technology in the third quarter of calendar-year 2000," Sachs wrote. But he also noted that the requirement for a 1394-5C interface on any digital-TV sets with integrated cable set-top functionality remained a "material area of disagreement between the cable and consumer-electronics industries." Several major TV manufacturers -- notably Thomson Consumer Electronics, Zenith Electronics Corp. and Philips Consumer Electronics Co. -- oppose the 5C scheme in favor of alternatives that they argue would give less power to content producers in cutting off consumers' access to digital content. Thomson and Zenith support a smart-card-based protection scheme called "XCA" that they developed jointly. Thomson spokesman James Harper said the company had no comment on the retention of 1394-5C plans in the OpenCable specs, but he noted that it would be some time before Thomson was producing integrated OpenCable-compliant digital-TV sets anyway. Dulchinos emphasized that manufacturers willing to use 1394-5C needed to move ahead with their product development, adding that with the support cable already had for the technology, it was confident about moving ahead with its spec. "We've sort of, as of last week, really recommitted to" the 1394-5C scheme, Dulchinos said. "Companies that want to work with cable will need to do that." Sachs also noted continuing work between cable and the consumer-electronics industry on the development of digital TVs, with integrated cable set-top functions, RF-performance specifications, video performance and the specific electromechanical resources needed for reliable POD implementation among the remaining issues. He added that technicians were mulling the method cable and TV manufacturers will use to support closed-captioning of digital programming -- an issue the FCC is currently considering in a rulemaking proceeding. Meanwhile, availability of digital programming continues to creep higher among cable competitors. The copy-protection issue didn't prevent DirecTV Inc. from going forward with its new high-definition TV pay-per-view channel, which launched in late October. Not all Hollywood studios are as concerned about copy protection as others, DirecTV senior vice president of programming Stephanie Campbell said. "There's no problem today with HDTV sets because there's no output." She added that when it comes to copy protection, "Everyone wants a solution sooner, rather than later." Campbell noted that a move from analog to HDTV entails changing the very way people watch television, including changing the screen aspect ratio they watch. EchoStar Communications Corp. spokesman Marc Lumpkin said the direct-broadcast satellite company plans to begin selling an HDTV modulator this month. The component will connect a Dish Network model "5000" DBS receiver with a digital television. He conceded that the modulator is targeted to the early adopter who doesn't want to wait for high-definition programming. EchoStar plans to offer Home Box Office's HDTV feed free-of-charge to subscribers who already take an HBO package. But Dish Network subscribers would need dishes pointed at the 61.5 degrees west orbital location. Ultimately, the company plans to offer HDTV at either its 119 or 110 degrees west full-CONUS (continental United States) orbital slots, which will both be visible with a Dish 5000 system. The company has not yet determined a plan for digital-broadcast signals if local-to-local legislation allows it. Also last week, CBS News said it would begin producing its new weekday morning program, The Early Show, in standard-definition digital format using new high-definition cameras from Sony Corp. Later, the equipment will be used to produce the show in HDTV.