FCC Record, Volume 26, No. 7, Pages 4843 to 5761, March 28 - April 08, 2011 Page: 5,109
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achieve the goals set forth in the Act, the Commission in 1998 adopted the "integration ban," which
established a date after which cable operators no longer may place into service new navigation devices
that perform both conditional access and other functions in a single integrated device.7 The ban was
enacted to ensure that both cable operators and consumer electronics manufacturers rely on a common
separated security solution.8 This "common reliance" is necessary to achieve the broader goal of Section
629 - i.e., to allow consumers the option of purchasing navigation devices from sources other than their
MVPD.9 Although the cable industry has challenged the lawfulness of the integration ban on three
separate occasions, in each of those cases the D.C. Circuit denied those petitions.'O In limited
circumstances, however, operators may be eligible for waiver of the integration ban."
Ili. DISCUSSION
3. GCL requests that the Commission grant an extension of the waiver of the integration ban
for some of the same reasons as its original 2007 waiver.'2 Due to its small size, isolated geographical
and temporal location, and propensity for natural disasters, Guam has different socioeconomic and market
7 See Implementation of Section 304 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996: Commercial Availability of Navigation
Devices, 13 FCC Red 14775, 14803, 69 (1998) ("First Report and Order") (adopting Section 76.1204 of the
Commission's rules, subsection (a)( 1) of which (1) required multichannel video programming distributors
("MVPDs") to make available by July 1, 2000 a security element separate from the basic navigation device (i.e., the
CableCARD), and, in its original form, (2) prohibited MVPDs covered by this subsection from "plac[ing] in service
new navigation devices ... that perform both conditional access and other functions in a single integrated device"
after January 1, 2005); see also 47 C.F.R. 76.1204(a)(1) (1998). Last year the Commission adopted rules to make
the integration ban more lenient by exempting all one-way, non-recording set top boxes from the integration ban.
Implementation of Section 304 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996: Commercial .4vailabilityl of Navigation
Devices. 25 FCC Rcd 14657, 14679-14682. 14701 45-51 (2010) ("Third Report and Order and Order on
Reconsideration") (amending Section 76.1204 of the Commission's rules).
8 See Cablevision Systems Corporation's Request for Waiver of Section 76.1204(a) (1) of the Commission 's Rules, 22
FCC Rcd 220, 226, 19 (2007) (citing the 2005 Deferral Order, 20 FCC Rcd at 6809, 30) (explaining why the
Commission "require[d] MVPDs and consumer electronics manufacturers to rely upon identical separated security
with regard to hardware-based conditional access solutions").
9 See S. REP. 104-230, at 181 (1996) (Conf. Rep.). See also BellSouth Interactive Media Services. LLC, 19 FCC Rcd
15607, 15608, 2 (2004). As the Bureau noted, Congress characterized the transition to competition in navigation
devices as an important goal, stating that competitionin in the manufacturing and distribution of consumer devices
has always led to innovation, lower prices and higher quality." GCL Order, 22 FCC Rcd at 11748, 2 (citing H.R.
REP. NO. 104-204, at 112 (1995)).
10 Comcast Corp. v. FCC, 526 F.3d 763 (D.C. Cir. 2008); Charter Comm., Inc. v. FCC, 460 F.3d 31 (D.C. Cir.
2006); General instrument Corp. v. FCC, 213 F.3d 724 (D.C. Cir. 2000). The Commission argued, and the D.C.
Circuit agreed, that the integration ban was a reasonable means to meet Section 629's directive. Charter Comm.,
Inc. v. FCC, 460 F.3d 31, 41 (D.C. Cir. 2006) ("this court is bound to defer to the FCC's predictive judgment that,
absentet common reliance on an identical security function, we do not foresee the market developing in a manner
consistent with our statutory obligation."').
" For example, Section 629(c) provides that the Commission shall grant a waiver of its regulations implementing
Section 629(a) upon an appropriate showing that such waiver is necessary to assist the development or introduction
of new or improved services. 47 U.S.C 549(c). Furthermore, petitioners who have shown good cause have
received waivers of the integration ban pursuant to Sections 1.3 and 76.7 of the Commission's rules. See, e.g., GCL
Order, 22 FCC Rcd at 11752, 13-14.
12 GCL "'respectfully requests that its waiver..,. not be limited in time." GCL Extension Request at 6, n.19. In
support of this request, GCL points to the indefinite waiver granted to Baja for refurbished integrated set top boxes.
See Baja Broadband Operating Company, LLC, 25 FCC Rcd 2200, 2206, 14 (2010).5109
Federal Communications Commission
DA 11-618
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United States. Federal Communications Commission. FCC Record, Volume 26, No. 7, Pages 4843 to 5761, March 28 - April 08, 2011, book, April 2011; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc52169/m1/281/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.