FCC proposes set-top box retail rules.

Multichannel News, February, 1997 by Hearn, Ted

WASHINGTON - The Federal Communications Commission last week proposed rules to promote the retail sale of set-top boxes and converters employed by cable operators and other distributors of multichannel programming. The agency issued the proposals under a provision of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Although cable industry sources had no immediate reaction, cable officials in the past have voiced concern about rules that could exacerbate the industry's multibillion-dollar signal-theft problem. Congress included the provisions to ensure that cable subscribers may purchase navigation devices at stores like Circuit City, rather than leasing or buying equipment from their programming provider. The FCC, in a Feb. 20 press release, said its proposals were...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.