The preliminary agenda for the next FCC meeting, on Oct. 14, will include consideration of changes to rules covering CableCards.
The FCC has acknowledged that the CableCard experiment is a failure and is ready to consider changes that should lead to the eventual death of the devices.
The Commission has been considering lifting the integration ban, the order that separates content and security, which led to the development of the CableCard.
The proposed alternative is a so-called “AllVid” box, which has its own problems, but problems that the entire industry would have to contend with, and not just cable.
In the meantime, the FCC is proposing eliminating the requirement for tuning adapters. There have been problems associated with those adapters in retail boxes, specifically TiVo boxes, especially in cable networks that have introduced switched digital video (SDV).
