Washington Update. Bajo Control? Todo. Is Everything Under Control?

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Washington Update. Bajo Control? Todo. Is Everything Under Control?"

Vernon Bennett
5 years ago
Views:

1 Washington Update Todo Bajo Control? Is Everything Under Control? 1

2 The Year in Review Intellectual Property DTV Transition Including White Spaces 2

3 IP Overview Digital Copyright ISP Filtering Fair Use U.S. Copyright Reform International Developments

4 Digital Copyright User-Generated Content-UGC DMCA notice & takedown Duty to police? Viacom v. YouTube Perfect 10 v. Amazon (Google) Fair Use Contributory Liability Principles for UGC sites

5 ISP Filtering Filtering Issues International Developments U.S. Developments Streamcast injunction AT&T Common Solutions Group

6 Fair Use Fox v. Cablevision: Remote DVR Piracy Warnings Challenge at FTC RIAA and CD Ripping

7 U.S. Copyright Legislation PRO IP Act IP Enhanced Criminal Enforcement Act FAIR USE Act College Opportunity and Affordability Act 7

8 International Copyright Reform Interoperability France EU plan Format shifting UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Hong Kong 8

9 Simulated Picture 9

10 DTV Transition: Introduction DTV Hard Date February 17, 2009 ~ 69 million U.S. OTA Analog TVs ~ 15 to 20 million homes rely on OTA TV Unaffected: Cable or satellite subscribers TVs with digital tuners If NTSC TV, OTA Options Include: New TV with digital tuner Digital- to- analog converter box, or Snow Excess Spectrum for Public Safety and FCC Auction

11 DTV Hot Topics Consumer Education Converter Boxes Digital Must Carry 700 MHz Auction

12 Consumer Education: What s Going On? CEA, CTAM, CBS, NAB, Consumers Union Conflicting Surveys: 22% OTA HHs plan to do nothing on 2/17/09 (CEA) 47% TV Viewers don t know transition date (CTAM) 79% seen, read, or heard something about 2/17/09 (NAB) 36% know nothing about transition (CU)

13 Federal Finger Pointing GAO: No One in Charge & No Comprehensive Plan FCC Chairman Martin: 97 pages on 20 years of FCC action Democrats want a task force & test market NAB/APTS: $700 Million PSA Campaign Mid-Feb. Full Launch

14 14

15 Consumer Education: Government Actions Many Congressional Hearings on: Consumer Education, Auction, Underserved Communities, FCC Practices, FCC/NTIA Planning, Reception Congress or FCC Could Mandate Consumer Education FCC Order on mandatory PSAs just approved First Amendment Issues Mandatory Retail Labeling

16 NTIA Converter Box Program What is a D2A Converter Box? $1.5 Billion to NTIA for coupons Program Jan to March 2009 NTIA Certifies Manufacturers & Retailers APTS: 43% of OTA Viewers Said Will Buy DTV or Box

17 The Coupons Apply: Web, Mail, or Toll-free for $40 Gift Card 22.5 million coupons ($900 meg) 5.6 Meg ordered (as of Feb. 20) Once gone, 12.5 million more available ($500 meg) Only if self- certify no cable/satellite. Will boxes be on store shelves? > 250 retailers certified with 14,000 outlets Best Buy, Circuit City, Kmart, Wal- Mart, Sears, & Target Will consumers know about boxes and coupons? Community Broadcasters Association (LPTV): delay to require analog pass- through

18 Digital Must Carry Must-Carry? Primary Signal Compromise If all subscribers get digital cable, must carry digital If not, must down-convert to analog Either way, all subscribers receive stations primary signal Rule Expires in Feb Multicast Must-Carry Chairman Martin Tried, Lacks Votes

19 700 MHz Auction 62 MHz Available in 700 MHz band Auction Started Jan. 25 th and Ongoing Already $19.47 Billion for U.S. Treasury and Converter Boxes Reserve Price Met for C-Block with Open Access Requirements in (Google v. Telcos) Auction D-Block D Public Safety Partnership Reserve Price NOT met

21 White Spaces Broadcast Spectrum Not in use for DTV Signal White Spaces Coalition: White Spaces for Broadband Unlicensed use all standards-compliant devices could use white spaces Broadcasters (NAB/MSTV) Interference Licensed v. Unlicensed

Devices Fixed Devices May Use White Spaces Post-transition Portable Devices: FCC Still Deciding Portable Devices Challenges: Located indoors hard to detect spectrum use May move to occupied

22 Devices Fixed Devices May Use White Spaces Post-transition Portable Devices: FCC Still Deciding Portable Devices Challenges: Located indoors hard to detect spectrum use May move to occupied frequency Hard to trace interference Available Frequency Finding Geolocation and look-up in centralized database better for fixed Spectrum sensing Also may share info between nearby devices

23 FCC Studies Released July 31 DTV Receiver Experienced Interference from 6.3 dbm Transmitter 2m from Receiver Prototype Device Tests Microsoft device Failed* Could sense signal at -95 dbm only FCC proposal = -116 dbm White Spaces Coalition proposal = -114 dbm Could not sense wireless microphone Philips device Mixed Results Could sense single signal at -115 dbm Could sense 2 signals at -114 dbm Limited ability to sense wireless microphones *Microsoft later discovered its prototype scanner broken

24 FCC: Phase II Tests FCC Began More Tests Jan. 24 th Bench and field testing, 4-6 weeks each Prototypes from Microsoft, Philips, Motorola and Adaptrum Microsoft device overheated during testing MSTV: Many Factors not in Test Plan Close-in obstructions (e.g., human body) Effect of 3+ signals (3 rd order IM products) Terrain and seasonal variations Impact on mobile TV

25 Thank You! Questions? Jim Burger Dow Lohnes PLLC 25

The Broadcast Digital Transition

The Broadcast Digital Transition Impact on Cable Television Households Juan Otero Senior Director, Government Affairs Comcast Cable 1 The switch to digital-only television signals in early 2009 will usher