Encryption

[drmpeg]

Proceeding 16-142 is a HOT topic on the FCC Filing page. It has 4,102 responses. No other topic has above 2,000 responses, and only 5 (including 16-142) have over 1,000. The responses I've read are almost exclusively opposing DRM, and all are very well written.
If the FCC and/or broadcasters are paying ANY attention at all, the pressure has had to have reached them.

"Top Proceedings" doesn't mean what you think it means. Instead, click on "Browse Popular Proceedings" at the top of the page. You'll see that 23-320 "Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet" has 10,565 filings in just the last 30 days with 51,940 overall. The previous net neutrality proceeding 14-28 "Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet" had 2,192,747 filings (although it was thought that not all of them were from real people).

[stalkingturkey]

Will DRM encrypted ATSC 3.0 channels play on my Android or Fire TV device?
Using a gateway product - we expect it will be possible in the future but it is not possible today. The Google Widevine DRM decryption is possible but there are other requirements that are draft/incomplete at this time. There is activity happening.

I'm out of the loop--Is the HDHR device a "gateway product" or will we need an additional device?

[nickk]

Will DRM encrypted ATSC 3.0 channels play on my Android or Fire TV device?
Using a gateway product - we expect it will be possible in the future but it is not possible today. The Google Widevine DRM decryption is possible but there are other requirements that are draft/incomplete at this time. There is activity happening.

I'm out of the loop--Is the HDHR device a "gateway product" or will we need an additional device?

Yes, the HDHomeRun is a gateway product.

[howardc1243]

Will DRM encrypted ATSC 3.0 channels play on my Android or Fire TV device?
Using a gateway product - we expect it will be possible in the future but it is not possible today. The Google Widevine DRM decryption is possible but there are other requirements that are draft/incomplete at this time. There is activity happening.

I'm out of the loop--Is the HDHR device a "gateway product" or will we need an additional device?

i may be wrong on this - i believe 3 of the 6 devices are gateway, the hdhomerun flex duo, the hdhomerun flex 4k and the hdhomerun scribe 4k.

[jasonl]

All HDHomeRun devices function as gateways, taking broadcast or cable TV and making it available to other devices over the network. Of course, only the models with ATSC 3.0 support (CONNECT 4K, FLEX 4K, SCRIBE 4K) matter to this particular discussion.

[kyl416]

The responses I've read are almost exclusively opposing DRM, and all are very well written.

It doesn't matter how well written they are, they'll likely dismiss any comments that conflate DRM protection with conditional access encryption used for subcription OTA content and datacasting as subscription OTA isn't unique to ATSC 3.0, and every attempt to do so for the past 5 decades like Wometco, SelecTV, USDTV, Airbox and most recently Evoca ended up failing. They'll probably dismiss comments with what if scenarios that are already forbidden by the FCC's rules as moot, along with ones that have their own interpretations of key terms that don't match the definition used by the FCC.

What they will pay attention to is stuff like the internet requirement, which would cutoff viewers from live coverage of Tornado warnings while they wait for their modem to re-establish an internet connection after their lights blink. And cut people off during extended internet outages as the days of having same day truck rolls from your cable or telco provider are long over, and they usually can't repair widespread damage on utility poles after a storm until the electric company completes their repairs.

They might also do something about the Roku and SmartTV thing and the 30 year ticking timebomb, as there's no reason why the A3SA's Widevine implementation should be using restrictions that aren't even used by Oscar screeners for movies that are still in theaters, as those screeners can be viewed on web browsers and studio screener apps that are available for most smart TV platforms including the Roku.

[freway01]

How is A3SA able to prevent the recording of any of the OTA (free public airwaves) programming if the courts have already ruled that consumers can record content for personal use? Isn't this the same reason we have DVR's today?

https://legalbeagle.com/6696968-tv-reco ... -laws.html

[HoTst2]

How is A3SA able to prevent the recording of any of the OTA (free public airwaves) programming if the courts have already ruled that consumers can record content for personal use? Isn't this the same reason we have DVR's today?

https://legalbeagle.com/6696968-tv-reco ... -laws.html

That's what I don't clearly understand about this ...

I mean, unless the broadcasters legally define (and are granted permission) ATSC 3.0 or "NextgenTV" as an OTA pay TV service. I don't really understand how they can legally get away with what they're doing over the publicly owned airways like this.

I certainly understand "WHY" the broadcasters are doing it as they've always been angry and had their nose out of joint since their great defeat in the '76 Betamax case. And are still determined to prohibit private video recording. But don't get why they're allowed to finally do it now. ....

[zippy]

ATSC 3.0 Substantially similar rules might end in July 2027. I'm sure if ATSC 3.0 light house stations roll back to their original ATSC 1.0 location the sub-channels are open to new business opportunities. And these might need encryption.

[shawn_75]

It seems broadcasters want to play like cable networks. So what's the difference between a cable network and a broadcast network? Is there some advantage to being a broadcaster? I know they have some legal obligations such as EAS, E/I requirements, etc. that I'm sure they'd rather not have to deal with, but what edge does broadcasting give them?

This is information I'd like to have for an FCC complaint.

[zippy]

OTA is a broadcasters network. And are you expecting the large NAB's to disclose their business model and business plan to you?

[kyl416]

You are confusing DRM protection with conditional access encryption used for Subscription OTA. Under the rules that allow for DRM protection broadcasters are forbidden from charging viewers a fee or requiring a programmer provided converter box to view them.

The ability to offer Subscription OTA is not new or unique to ATSC 3.0 and has been attempted in some form for the past 5 decades, but each time it ended up failing, the most recent one, Evoca, folded at the end of 2022.


The Big 4 going subscription only is easier said than done. The networks only own a fraction of their affiliates and anyone who doesn't go along with it would instantly have the highest rated station in their market. Those networks would also lose their place in the Super Bowl rotation and FOX and CBS would lose their Sunday regional NFC and AFC rights, giving 3rd party affiliates less of a reason to want to keep paying their network affiliation fees. The cast and crew compensation for first run pay TV is much lower, so they would also lose programming they don't outright own. Broadcasters without any skin in the game like Sinclair, Gray and/or Tegna would likely launch new replacement networks and join Nexstar's CW and Scripps's Ion and poach the rights to most of the sporting events and 3rd party produced programming. While the big technical roadblock is that Subscription OTA requires a conditional access module to decode, which not a single NextGen tuner on the market has, including ones that support DRM.

[zippy]

Does subscription free OTA broadcast only apply to the primary channels that a broadcaster submits to the FCC for a license. Does it apply to sub-channels?


https://www.streamtvinsider.com/video/s ... w-revenues

[kyl416]

The article is talking about the streaming interactive apps that Sinclair has on many of their NextGen signals, like their FAST platform STIRR, a local news app, along with radio streams from Stingray and others. Sinclair is also one of the few broadcasters who has yet to implement DRM on any of their NextGen stations.

[zippy]

The article hints at what direction sinclair might want for the future- going forward. Not what it is currently doing. When a major NAB talks about a new business model for ATSC 3.0 what do you think it means.