It came out a few months ago that the FCC was seeking to ban the ability for users to install custom/third-party firmware on their routers, specifically calling out DD-WRT. Now they’re back tracking a little; no longer is DD-WRT specifically called out, or that third-party firmware specifically banned, just that it isn’t OK unless OEMs can guarentee that these won’t […]
Read moreI was quite a shocked the other day to discover that the FCC wants to ban custom/3rd party firmware for Wi-Fi routers like dd-wrt. The goal, which is understandable from their perspective, is to remove the ability of radio wireless devices to work outside of their allowable parameters. The problem is that this is one of those “use a sledgehammer […]
Read moreEarlier this year, Boxee and the Consumer Electronics Agency teamed up for a scuffle with the cable companies. The dispute arose as the FCC was reviewing rules that prevented cable companies from encrypting basic tier channels. Cable companies had been restricted from encrypting these channels for a number of years, but the FCC was reviewing whether the restrictions should remain […]
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Back in February, Boxee and the Consumer Electronics Association announced that they were working together to convince the FCC not to overturn rules that required cable television service providers to offer basic tier channels unencrypted. The FCC had indicated that they were open to revisiting the rules regarding unencrypted cable channels as part of a required review of rules requiring […]
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A few days before releasing the XFINITY TV app for the Xbox 360, Comcast posted a FAQ regarding the app. For many folks, the most interesting tidbit was Comcast’s announcement that XFINITY TV on Xbox Live usage would not count against Comcast subscribers’ bandwidth caps. Comcast’s reasoning was that all of the data transmissions were occurring on Comcast’s private network […]
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Under current regulations, cable companies are generally not allowed to encrypt their basic, analog channels. This allows the tuners built into TVs and devices such as the recently launched Boxee Live TV to receive the channels without a settop box. Cable companies can request a waiver from the FCC to switch to a fully digital and encrypted system, but to […]
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In the last few months I have noticed an increase in the number of times that a commercial has come on running at a surprisingly high volume. Not that this is new problem, but, anecdotally, it seems to have gotten worse recently. How appropriate then that the FCC has issued regulations to support the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM) passed by Congress last […]
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