Audio Video News

The new management at the Federal Communications Commission isn't taking the CableCARD snafu lying down. They want to make new rules to foster card adoption--and they've also got ideas on what the card's successor may look like.

First, the FCC wants consumers who want the card to have a fair shot getting it. So they're proposing new rules that, in the words of a press release: "(1) ensure that retail devices have comparable access to video programming that is prescheduled by the programming provider; (2) make CableCARD pricing and billing more transparent; (3) streamline CableCARD installations; and (4) clarify certification requirements."

For its longterm strategy, the commission is also thinking about a successor that it's calling AllVid. As chair Julius Genachowski described it, AllVid would be "a small adapter on the customer's premises that would present a standard interface to all consumer devices."

The FCC's other three Democratic commissioners (two of them newly appointed) voiced agreement with Genachowski. However, there was one demurral from Republican holdover Robert McDowell, who said the marketplace would provide better solutions than an FCC-regulated approach.

See FCC press release, Genachowski statement, McDowell statement (all three are PDFs), and ArsTechnica report.