Plug-and-Play Action May Be a Way Off at FCC
The FCC won’t act quickly on two-way plug-and-play rules (CD Dec 21 p3), judging by Chairman Kevin Martin’s comments at the Consumer Electronics Show and other evidence, a number of industry officials said. In his CES appearance Tuesday, Martin defied months of industry speculation that he would outline his stance on the controversial issue, saying little about it, according to people who heard him. In a Q-and-A session with CEA President Gary Shapiro, Martin highlighted efforts by the cable and consumer electronics industries to deploy plug-and-play devices. The chairman didn’t get into policy specifics.
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Martin has given the other commissioners no indication that he wants quick action on plug-and-play, an FCC official said. No order on the subject has been circulated on the FCC’s eighth floor, agency sources said. The commissioners are concentrating on higher priorities, an official said. Some commissioners want the cable and consumer electronics industries to work out a technology solution, the source said. Cable and consumer electronics officials had expected an order to have been circulated on the FCC’s eighth floor months ago and to have been voted on by now. CEA and NCTA spokesmen declined to comment.
But momentum seemed to be derailed by lobbying in October and November by the MPAA, the NCTA and others who generally oppose government intervention in the market, said industry and FCC officials. Meanwhile, the cable and consumer electronics industries don’t appear to have made much progress in negotiations on plug-and-play specifications, the officials said. The complexities of coming up with a standard may also account for the FCC’s inaction, sources said. The industries “can’t seem to get together,” said communications lawyer and former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley: “It would be good to see an industry solution in this area, but I don’t know if that will be forthcoming anytime soon… It’s complex.”
Plug-and-play doesn’t seem to be “on the front burner” at the FCC because it’s a controversial subject that may take a while to work out at a time commissioners face higher priorities, like the 700 MHz auction, a communications industry official said. Lobbying by the MPAA and others probably helped commissioners realize the complexity of the matter but didn’t slow progress, multiple industry officials said. The MPAA has told the FCC that cable and CE should be allowed to come up with solutions. It wants consumers to get video and other content in ways that prevent piracy, said a spokeswoman. “Obviously this is a very complicated issue that really should be deliberative, so I don’t think it’s really a matter of how long it takes, it’s really more a matter of how they get it right.” Martin may have held off circulating an order on the FCC’s top floor because he senses he doesn’t have the votes to impose plug-and-play standards, an official said. “It’s enormously complicated. It’s a question of how deep does the FCC want to get into the details.”
Martin appears to hold some hope cable and CE can come up with a solution, said people who heard him speak. “At CES, the chairman was still pushing the two sides to agree,” said Stanford Group analyst Paul Gallant. “But if that doesn’t happen, the commission is apparently going to step in. That raises the stakes for the cable and consumer electronics companies who are already signing deals.”