FCC承认CableCARD是一个失败

美国FCC近日推出一则爆炸式新闻：承认CableCARD方案是个“彻底的失败”。但这并不意味着放弃鼓励机顶盒的创新，相反，FCC希望获得开放接收来自有线和IPTV运营商的视频流的新规则的想法。

这个把它叫做“CableCARD之子”，但有线电视产业却不怎么喜欢它。

彻底失败

如果你对像FCC这样的组织机构所说的“彻底失败”很好奇，那就看一看昨天的契约文件，“寻求视频装置创新的评论”，在这篇文章中有这么几行文字：“FCC的CableCARD技术规则在导航设备的零售市场只取得了有限的成功，而对于即插即用装置的认证是昂贵和复杂的。

“有限的成功”是对“不幸的失败”一个比较委婉的官僚用语，在FCC十一月开放会议期间，在国家宽带计划讨论中指出，机顶盒的创新已经停滞不前。代理机构的工程师出示的下列表格显示，只有14 种的非租赁机顶盒被投放美国市场。

来源FCC介绍

14种—大多数美国人拥有一台电视机，而且大多数用户订阅的是付费服务。相比之下，尽管载体受到限制，但移动设备的创新已出现爆炸式增长。2008年，市场上存在879种移动设备。为什么在移动设备市场上能够发展创新而不是在有线设备市场?

CableCARD是政府开放视频内容“导航”市场，允许第三方电视机、DVR和机顶盒接收和控制有线视频流的尝试。FCC希望什么被创新在一系列视频产品中，例如电视节目录制器、Roku盒、AppleTV、Xbox360和PS3游戏机。实际上“机顶盒”可以做各种各样很酷的东西，包括从互联网上访问视频内容。有线电视公司的内容没有什么可以整合，这将使他们可以更加创新和更有用。

CableCARD本期望可以解决问题，但部署极慢，从未得到广泛支持，并且局限性很多。早期版本的主机规范仅仅支持单向访问，因此EPG，VOD及其他双向服务不能工作。FCC试图强迫整个行业的有线运营商甚至他们自己租赁的机顶盒中采用CableCARDs。

但是“集成禁令”并没有多大帮助，就像有线行业在CableCARD中提交的状态报告中指出的那样。在过去的几年里，几乎所有的CableCARD都是在机顶盒上部署。第三方设备如Roku盒和索尼PS3从没用过(其余的就是数字录像机。)

如果开始没有成功，请尝试真正的双向

这种形势无益于任何人。所谓的创新并没有在有线运营领域发生，而简单的集成造成的机顶盒居高不下却使运营商牢骚满腹。

因为行业内推出了第二种方案。其特征是，从名字来看，是真正的双向运营。它仍旧采用CableCARD来保证安全，但是导航代码是运行在设备如电视的内部基于Jave的中间件上。有线行业签约雇佣了很多消费电子产品的供应商，但尽管经过很多年的大肆宣传，购买和使用一个真正双向的设备也几乎是不可能的。

然而，到底还是来了。有线运营商正在加紧推出前端的展示以支持这种技术。万一可行的话，用户就可以带着真正双向的电视机在全国范围内使用，只要插入当地的有线数字信号，不用机顶盒就可实现双向互动应用，如果这样的话，FCC还有什么不高兴的呢？

真正的创新?

简短的回答是像tru2way这种“融合创新”的方式使FCC意识到了所面临的困难和不可能性。例如，想像有一种设备如Xbox或360PS3可以进入有线视频流，它可以以电子邮件的方式提醒某电视节目即将播放，也可以在体育节目时提供一键式访问以了解更多的情况，这种功能有点类似HDDVR。这种融合的可能性看起来很棒且永无止境。

但是，FCC说，tru2way许可证需要设备制造商把电缆导航与其他功能分开，另一方面，像TiVo, Moxi, Microsoft’s Xbox360,AppleTC, Roku,Sony’s Playstation3,Vudu等设备每次都需要运用一致的菜单，因为他们都得通过视频内容进行浏览，不论其来源。

现在该机构试图探寻新的论点“如何鼓励创新”，也就是说，下一步应该尝试什么。

什么才是真正紧迫的？这个很难说且目前也不清楚，因FCC在这点上没有什么可以参考。最后，可能会以放宽tru2way的许可协议而结束，但是设备制造商一直没有很兴奋，为了访问有线电视内容，他们不得不允许有线行业一堆中间设备的创建和控制。

Disrupter-in-chief

在这一点上我们只能惊叹，Genachowski领导FCC曾毫不留情的想努力改变这种现状。在这6个月里，Genachowski和其团队正在起草一项国家宽带计划，致力于网络中性规则，研究Google, Apple, and Verizon等公司，处理频谱分配问[FS:Page]题，处理预留空间设备发展的具体细节，中立规则延伸至无线网络，考虑从传统电话网络的电路交换到全IP通信网络的过渡。现在，我们可以把震憾的有线行业加入到列表中。

回顾迄今为止所采取的行动，每一次大的主题图片，反对和赞成网络开放性的行动都不是特别激进。实际上，每次的想法只限于程序和政策的制定，有些被早期的FCC实行，有些被公布。网络中立性是建立在因特网政策上的，基于无线的开放存取规则由基于700MHz频谱资源的拍卖开放存取规则产生，新的电视主动权是建立在已有十年之久的CableCARD上。国家宽带计划是一个新的计划，被国会强制执行。

所以Genachowski不太激进，但他确实表现出不懈的、雄心勃勃的追求，他看到这些意见，通过他们的最大潜力进行了创造性创新。而且他不希望所有的网络都进行这样激进的创新。

更新：有线电视业表示，它欢迎新的想法，希望确保它更进一步的同样地适用于所有电视运营商（包括像现在直播，AT＆T公司和Verizon公司）。

“研究新方法咨询工作的通知，特别是跨多个行业的方法，必须和FCC一起合作贯彻执行其他有利于消费者利益的做法以促进竞争、创新”，美国有线电视和电信主管凯尔McSlarrow说。

有线当然不能放弃其感兴趣的CableCARD的所有工作和现在的tru2way，所以接下来将如何发展，我们拭目以待。

相关链接：

从FCC放弃CableCARD看机卡分离

英语版原文

The Genachowski-led Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seems to delight in dropping bombshells on a weekly basis, but we didn't see this one coming: the FCC admits that its CableCARD mandate has been an abysmal failure. That doesn't mean it's giving up the fight to encourage set-box box innovation; instead, the FCC wants ideas for a new set of rules that will bust open access to video streams from cable and IPTV operators.

Call it "Son of CableCARD"... and rest assured, the cable industry ain't gonna like it.

Total failure

If you're curious how an agency like the FCC says something like "total failure," take a look at yesterday's innocuously titled document, "Comment sought on video device innovation." Buried inside that document are these lines: "The Commission's CableCARD rules have resulted in limited success in developing a retail market for navigation devices. Certification for plug-and-play devices is costly and complex."

"Limited success" is a bureaucratic euphemism for abject failure, as the FCC made clear during its own November open meeting. During that event, as part of its discussion about the National Broadband Plan, it noted that set-top box innovation had stagnated. Agency engineers showed the following chart, pointing out that only 14 non-leased set-top boxes were on the market in the US.

Fourteen—and yet most Americans own a TV, and most subscribe to some form of pay-TV service. Compare this to mobile devices, where innovation has exploded despite (the now loosening) carrier restrictions; in 2008, 879 mobile devices were in existence. Why innovation in the one market but not the other?

CableCARD was the governm[FS:Page]ent's attempt to open up the "navigation" market for video content, allowing third-party televisions, DVRs, and set-top boxes to access and control cable video streams. What the FCC wanted was innovation of the kind seen in other video products like the TiVo, the Roku box, the AppleTV, the Xbox 360, and the PS3. All were essentially "set-top boxes" that did all manner of cool things, including access video content over the Internet from sites like Netflix. What none of them did was integrate content from cable companies, which would have made them even more innovative and far more useful.

CableCARD was supposed to be the fix, but it was slow to deploy, was never widely supported, and had huge limitations. Early versions of the host spec supported only one-way access, so electronic program guides, video-on-demand, and other two-way services didn't function. The FCC then tried to force the industry's hand, all but demanding innovation by requiring cable operators to use CableCARDs even inside their own leased set-top boxes, just to level the playing field.

But the "integration ban" didn't help much, either, as the cable industry delights in pointing out every time it submits a status report on CableCARD. After years in the wild, nearly all CableCARD deployments at the moment are in cable-owned set-top boxes, and third-party devices like the Roku box and Sony's PS3 never bothered with them. (Most of the rest are in TiVo DVRs.)

If at first you don't succeed, try tru2way

The situation wasn't good for anyone. Innovation wasn't happening and cable operators complained endlessly that the integration simply made their set-top boxes more costly for no real reason.

So the industry pushed tru2way, the successor technology. Tru2way features, as the name suggests, real two-way operation. It still uses a CableCARD for security, but the navigation code now runs on a middleware Java-based stack inside devices like TVs. The cable industry has signed on many consumer electronics vendors, but despite a couple years of hype, it's nearly impossible to buy and use a tru2way device.

Still, they're coming, and cable operators are moving forward with headend rollouts to support the tech. Once those are live, a user with a tru2way TV set can move anywhere in the country, plug into the local digital cable system, and have full two-way access without a set-top box. So why doesn't this make the FCC happy?

Real innovation?

The short answer is that tru2way makes "convergent innovation" of the kind the FCC wants to see difficult or impossible. For instance, imagine what a device like an Xbox 36[FS:Page]0 or a PS3 could do with access to cable video streams. It could offer onscreen e-mail alerts over TV shows, provide one-click access to further stats during sports games, function as an HD DVR, etc. The possibilities from this sort of convergence seem awesome and nearly endless.

But, says the FCC, "the tru2way license requires device manufacturers to separate cable navigation from all other functions that the device performs. On the other hand, devices like TiVo, Moxi, Microsoft's Xbox 360, AppleTC, Roku, Sony's Playstation 3, and Vudu each use a consistent menu as they navigate through video content regardless of its source."

The agency now seeks comment "on how to encourage innovation"—that is, what it should try next.

What's really being pushed for here? Hard to say, and it's not clear that the FCC has any preferences at this point. In the end, it may turn out that loosening up the tru2way licensing agreement will be enough, though device makers have never been very thrilled about having to allow a middleware stack created and controlled by the cable industry on their devices in order to access cable content.

Disrupter-in-chief

All we can say is "wow" at this point. The Genachowski-led FCC has been relentless in its effort to disrupt the status quo. In office for six months, Genachowski and team are drafting a national broadband plan; working on net neutrality rules; fingering companies like Google, Apple, and Verizon; dealing with spectrum reallocation; handling the nuts-and-bolts of white space device deployment; threatening to extend neutrality rules to wireless networks; and considering the transition from traditional circuit-switched phone networks to a full-IP communications network. Now, we can add "shaking up the cable industry" to the list.

Looking at the topics taken up so far, each is big-picture, disruptive, and pro-network openness. None are particularly radical; indeed, each idea simply develops programs and policies decided on by earlier FCC administrations, some of them Republican. Network neutrality builds on the Internet policy statement, open access rules on wireless follow from the open access rules on the 700MHz spectrum auction, and the new TV initiative builds on the decade-old CableCARD push. The National Broadband Plan, which is new, was mandated by Congress.

So Genachowski doesn't seem to be a radical, but he does appear to be both relentless and ambitious in his quest to see these ideas carried through to their maximum potential for disruptive innovation. And he's not above irritating just about every major incumbent with a network to do it.

&[FS:Page]nbsp; Update: The cable industry says that it welcomes the idea, it just wants to make sure it goes even further by applying equally to all TV operators (which now includes companies like DirecTV, AT&T and Verizon).

"A Notice of Inquiry working to develop fresh approaches—especially approaches that cross multiple industry lines—should be pursued in concert with Commission policies that promote competition, innovation and other pro-consumer benefits,” said National Cable & Telecommunications head Kyle McSlarrow.

Cable certainly can't be interested in ditching all of its work on CableCARD and now tru2way, so we're curious to see how this plays out.