FCC Media Bureau Seeks Comments on TiVo's HD Set-Top Waiver

DVR maker wants clarification on FCC rule requiring cable boxes to comply with 'open industry standard' for home networking

By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/17/2012 2:15:35 PM

The FCC's Media Bureau wants input on TiVo's request for a 12-month waiver of commission rules that will require cable operators to ensure HD set-tops "comply with an open industry standard" for home networking by Dec. 1, 2012.

According to the FCC, the rule is designed to make sure consumers can connect consumer-electronics devices they own to set-top boxes leased from MSOs for whole-home viewing and recording.

But TiVo isn't sure what the commission means by "an open industry standard" in the rule.

The DVR maker noted in its July 25 waiver request that the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) standards-development consortium has "made important strides, in its published standards and specification references, toward some common understanding of what will constitute 'an open industry standard'" that fulfills the regulatory requirement.

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