CEA Echoes Rep. Boucher's Call To Chairman Powell For Publication Of Cablelabs License Agreement (PHILA)

25-Mar-02

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) applauded Representative Rick Boucher's (R-Virginia) letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell and echoed the congressman's call to have the ""POD-Host Interface License Agreement"" (PHILA) published for public examination. At issue is a license, which CableLabs seeks to have consumer electronics companies sign in order to build retail products that will allow consumers to receive digital television (DTV) over cable systems. Such products include cable-ready digital television receivers or set-top boxes.""The anti-consumer provisions contained in the PHILA license -- selectable output controls, unfair encoding rules and down-resolution of signals -- remain a major obstacle to a more rapid DTV transition, and the development of retail DTV products that work with cable systems,"" said CEA Vice President of Technology policy, Michael Petricone. ""The inclusion of these anti-consumer limitations is especially inappropriate given the statements made at a February 28 Senate Commerce Committee hearing in which motion picture industry witnesses stated they had no wish to limit Americans' rights to noncommercial recording in the home. We now encourage the motion picture industry to make its support for consumer home recording known to the FCC and cable industry and ensure that the provisions of the PHILA are changed accordingly.""As Congressman Boucher noted in his letter to Chairman Powell, publication of the PHILA will ensure an open, public discussion of the critical policy issues affecting consumer home recording and fair use and will encourage the rapid resolution of outstanding issues. Agreement on the PHILA license is necessary to ensure that the competitive retail market for digital cable products envisioned by Congress becomes reality.""We're encouraged by Congressman Boucher's letter and again commend him for his dedication to home recording rights. The faster issues surrounding PHILA are resolved, the faster Americans will have access to HDTV through a wide variety of retail cable-compatible products.""""Congress mandated that the FCC direct the implementation of a competitive retail market for navigation devices. ""Congress needs to know whether its previous direction to the Commission with respect to the competitive availability of navigation devices has been carried out appropriately,"" Boucher wrote. ""It is indefensible that a license to implement a public trust, mandated by an act of Congress, be kept 'secret.'""For more information about the CEA, visit www.ce.org.

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