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August 08, 2002

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Digital tuner mandate

At the same Commission hearing at which the FCC's broadcast flag NPRM was announced, the Commissioners also decided to implement a "digital tuner mandate", requiring TV manufacturers to include ATSC tuners in their TV sets.

This controversial regulation means that it will soon be difficult to purchase a television without ATSC support.

The digital tuner mandate is distinct from the broadcast flag mandate proposal. However, the BPDG proposal and related policy advocacy by BPDG participants suggest that "Compliance and Robustness Rules" (in practice preventing, for example, consumers from repairing or upgrading their own equipment) ought to be applied by law to any device containing an ATSC tuner.

Today's FCC action means that "any device containing an ATSC tuner" could soon include "all television sets manufactured in the U.S." -- making the impact of a possible broadcast flag mandate that much greater. If both mandates are implemented, it would be difficult to purchase a TV in the United States without legally-mandated "tamper-resistance" measures. Therefore, the stakes in the broadcast flag mandate debate have been increased significantly.

(The tuner mandate applies only to sets above a certain size, although, in earlier instances, such rules set the stage for an industry-wide redesign of all TV products.)

Posted by Seth Schoen at 08:44 AM