Chairman Kevin J. Martin
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Chairman Martin:
Digital televisions and related devices have become small computers. Their capabilities rest on software installed in the device by the manufacturer. We are concerned that consumers of digital televisions (DTVs) and converter boxes are at risk because the manufacturers are knowingly selling products that are likely to become obsolete long before they should. If the manufacturers would include an inexpensive automatic software upgrade capability, new DTVs and converter boxes will be more durable and useful for consumers than is the case without that capability.
Consumers are accustomed to upgrades and patches being sent to their personal computers on a regular basis. Certain digital video devices are already capable of receiving automatic upgrades and repairs of software. These include cable television set top boxes, satellite video receivers, digital cell phones, TiVos and other digital video recorders. Indeed, Comcast is using a pure software download to convert its traditional cable set top boxes into TiVos.
This issue has been on the table since 2006 when Congressmen John Dingell and Ed Markey urged the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to require that the new digital converter set-top boxes the taxpayers are subsidizing have this same capability. Given the software flaws reported in the tuners of some digital converters offered under the NTIA’s Converter Box Coupon Program, that agency would have been wise to listen to the Congressmen. It appears that consumers will suffer as a result.
In the last year a series of software flaws and failures by some television manufacturers to abide by Commission V-Chip regulations have pointed out the value of having an automatic software repair and upgrade capability. The digital converter boxes now being subsidized by the NTIA and all digital televisions, with the exception of models produced by Sony, do not have any automatic software repair or upgrade capability.
The issue is important to consumers for several reasons. First, the absence of automatic upgrade capability prevents rapid and inexpensive solutions to software errors and omissions such as the problems identified with the converter box tuners. With upgrade capability, such errors can be fixed quickly and easily, without consumer intervention.
Second, consumers are less likely to need to replace their brand new digital television the next time a simple, new innovation is announced. With a software update capability, the manufacturers could easily update these sets (even if they charged consumers for feature updates).
The third reason is that DTVs should have the ability to meet evolving emergency and parental control capabilities. For example, it has recently been discovered that many television manufacturers have been selling units that ignore FCC rules requiring V-Chip 2.0 compatibility. After March, 2006 all digital TVs sold in the US were required to have the 2.0 software installed. Millions apparently do not. Again, the problem could have been solved if the televisions included an automatic update capability. The goal of creating a large installed base of DTVs capable of receiving improvements in the rating system (the reason for V-Chip 2.0) goes unrealized as a result.
Automatic update capability could also benefit people with disabilities. For example it would enable rapid dissemination of new innovations and enhancements to existing technologies for captioning and video description.
The absence of an automatic update capability prevents new policy in areas such as children’s television, emergency broadcasts, closed captioning, and the like from being implemented rapidly across the entire base of DTVs instead of having to wait for the much slower turnover of sets. Yet, it is our understanding that inexpensive solutions exist.
We believe that the FCC can address this problem by issuing a Notice of Inquiry to shed light on these issues. Consumers should know what they are getting when they invest in a DTV. There are additional actions that the FCC could also take to ensure that consumers have an array of choices for set-top boxes and DTV sets that have these capabilities. For example, the Commission might choose to require such capability as part of its certification process or require clear labeling of whether equipment has the update capability.
We do not propose such action now. We urge the Commission to initiate an inquiry into this matter immediately to determine if the industry will behave responsibly or if some stronger action is required to protect consumers.
Sincerely,
American Association of People with Disabilities
Consumer Federation of America
National Hispanic Media Coalition
New America Foundation
Telecommunications Research and Action Center
World Institute on Disability
cc:
Commissioner Michael J. Copps
Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein
Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate
Commissioner Robert M. McDowell
