I'm preparing to make a submission to the CRTC in response to their request for issues to be discussed in a January 2008 hearing on "Review of the regulatory frameworks for broadcasting distribution undertakings and discretionary programming services".  I'd appreciate review and comment from the community on what I've written below - I tried to do my research but I'm relatively new to mining the depths of the FCC and the CRTC.  If anything in here is misinformed, incorrect, or just plain wrong I'd rather hear it from all of you first! ;-)

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Per Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 2007-10, I would like to propose an issue for consideration at the public hearing which is related to distribution and linkage. At issue is the delivery of digital signals to consumers, and the additional burden that has been placed on consumers by the technology and business choices of BDUs.

Traditionally, using analog technology, consumers had a choice in many aspects of how they accessed and interacted with the content being delivered to them by their service provider. This included the ability to directly connect a cable to a television and browse channels in a simple manner, the ability to connect a VCR of one's choice to record and play back unrestricted content, and the ability to use a DVR such as Tivo to access advanced interactive guide and PVR functionality.

However with a shift to digital technology in the Canadian marketplace BDUs have removed, some would argue opportunistically, much of this consumer choice. In order to consume digital content, subscribers must pay additional fees to BDUs and connect set-top-boxes to their televisions which limit interactivity to one provider. The majority of digital content delivered to the home is encrypted and not available to be used outside of the BDU's set-top-box environment. This practice limits consumer choice and competitive opportunities in an increasingly convergent marketplace that is dominated by large corporations.

Technology exists today that would allow BDUs to offer consumers choice without compromising the security of their network or content , due largely to a 1996 decision by the FCC to "...assure the commercial availability to consumers of multichannel video programming and other services offered over multichannel video programming systems, of converter boxes, interactive communications equipment, and other equipment used by consumers to access multichannel video programming and other services offered over multichannel video programming systems, from manufacturers, retailers, and other vendors not affiliated with any multichannel video programming distributor." (Telecommunications Act of 1996, Section 629)

I believe that it is possible for the CRTC to enforce a similar requirement on Canadian BDUs which would fulfill the sentiment of this statement in Public Notice CRTC 2006-23, "...the Commission has sought to achieve the following objectives: encourage the transition to digital and eventually high definition distribution; permit BDUs to take advantage of the flexibility of digital distribution technology, to the benefit of consumers..."

If third-party vendors are allowed to participate in the Canadian market, the potential for creative and fulfilling user experiences through convergence abound. However if content is locked into proprietary and quite frankly unexceptional set-top-boxes then I fear that Canada will be left behind. This would certainly not be to the benefit of consumers in this country.

With that in mind, I propose the following for discussion:

· Basic cable services including priority over-the-air (OTA) HD signals and other services that the Commission has mandated for basic carriage should be delivered to consumers with security features that do not exceed those found in the original broadcast. Ie. Content that is available OTA without encryption should be freely available to basic subscribers without encryption. This would allow the majority of HDTVs on the market today with QAM tuners to simply connect the digital cable to the television and consume basic cable content.

· Pay and specialty services should be available to subscribers through commercially available equipment from manufacturers, retailers, and other vendors not affiliated with any multichannel video programming distributor. BDUs should evaluate the technologies currently in place in other jurisdictions (ie CableCards, Satellite CAMs) and report back to the CRTC on how to best provide a separable security access device which could be used by third-party devices to access digital television content in Canada.

I strongly believe that consumer choice in service delivery and content interaction will be a benefit to all Canadians. The devices that already exist which can take advantage of this type of technology are light years ahead of the STBs available in Canada in functionality and design creativity, one can only imagine the possibilities that the near future brings if the Commission takes steps now to ensure that competition is alive and well in this space.

Sincerely,

Peter Near