Industries Agree To Establish Standards On DTV Issues

The cable, consumer electronics and motion picture industries have agreed to work together to establish standards for compatibility between digital television services and consumer electronics equipment as well as a copy protection standard for digital video programming.In their July 1, 1999 responses to FCC Chairman William Kennardís request for a timetable on developing voluntary inter-industry technical solutions, the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA) and the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) set a target date of October 31, 1999, for agreement on specifications that will permit ""cable-ready"" DTV receivers to connect directly to a cable television system.The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) also has committed to meet with developers of the 5V Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP) copy protection technology in order to resolve outstanding licensing issues, with a target date of August 1, 1999.On June 29, the NCTA and National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) also sent Kennard a joint letter endorsing the use of the IEEE 1394 ""FireWire"" interface and supporting the proposed 5C copy protection standard.