Downloadable Security Committee Participants Disagree Along Old CableCARD Lines
Disagreement over whether a future downloadable security platform should account for over-the-top (OTT) content, use CableCARD as a baseline, or take the form of an app dominated the second meeting of the congressionally mandated Downloadable Security Technical Advisory Committee (DSTAC) Tuesday. Formed under a provision of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization, the committee of representatives from companies, trade groups and public interest organizations appeared to be divided along lines going back to the CableCARD regime they're trying to replace.
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CableCARD regime supporters Public Knowledge and TiVo found themselves repeatedly in conflict with companies that had opposed the devices, such as Charter Communications and Comcast. “The world has moved on,” Comcast Senior Vice President Mark Hess said of the devices. The committee should take guidance from “the ecosystem” of different devices CableCARD enabled, TiVo Chief Technology Officer Joseph Weber said.
The disputes evidently carried into the DSTAC's working group discussions, as reports on those smaller groups' findings were repeatedly prefaced by disclaimers saying the report would directly contradict other reports from the working group. Public Knowledge representative Adam Goldberg listed consumer requirements for the committee's eventual product, including the ability to supply its own user interface or pass through a carrier's, and work with a variety of retail devices. “Adam and I are not totally in sync,” responded Charter CTO Jay Rolls, who chaired the working group Goldberg reported from.
Whether the committee should include OTT content as a possible input for its product security system was one of the areas dividing the DSTAC. Since the FCC has an open rulemaking on redefining OTT services as multichannel video programming distributors, it's not clear whether such content will need to be part of the group's purview, several committee members said. Because of the breadth of OTT video offerings, the group doesn’t have time to address it unless the rules change, Goldberg said. If the group doesn't address OTT content, it could find the downloadable system it produces is instantly out of date, Media Bureau Assistant Chief Brendan Murray said.
“Not talking about OTT in the context of a new consumer box doesn't seem to make any sense,” said Steve Effros, director-strategic communications and development for downloadable security company BBT. Effros isn't on DSTAC, but spoke during the meeting's public comment phase. The DSTAC needs to consider OTT and IP delivery in its product because cable companies will soon be increasing their push into IP delivery, said Cablevision Senior Vice President-Engineering and New Technologies Bob Clyne.
Whether the DSTAC is working toward an app or a physical device was also a source of disagreement in the group. Weber expressed concern that apps might not be friendly for a retail marketplace, while other DSTAC members were concerned that an app might chain the DSTAC's product to an out-of-date system. Apps might also not be able to handle functions like digital video recording, said Milo Medin, head of Google Fiber. The group is to meet again in April.