The American Cable Association has asked the
FCC to give smaller operators extra time -- six months more -- to comply with a
Dec. 1 deadline for cable HD boxes top meet an open industry standard for home
networking.
TiVo
and others have asked for waivers -- TiVo asked for 12 months, others as much
as 18 months -- arguing that the time is needed to complete some of the
compliance standards.
FCC
rules require "cable operators to ensure that the cable-operator-provided
high definition set-top boxes, except unidirectional set-top boxes without
recording functionality, shall comply with an open industry standard that
provides for audiovisual communications including service discovery, video
transport, and remote control command pass-through standards for home
networking" by Dec. 1.
ACA
says that if the FCC decides to extend the deadline, smaller operators should
have six months more than larger operators because its members will in all
likelihood have difficulty obtaining complaint devices and software in time for
the deadline because, if past is prolog, larger operators will have their
orders filled first.
The
National Cable Association has asked that if TiVo gets a waiver, it should
apply to all supplier of set-tops.
