[ NNSquad ] Comcast Said Near U.S. Approval To Encrypt Basic-Cable Signals

[Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>]

Comcast Said Near U.S. Approval To Encrypt Basic-Cable Signals

http://j.mp/O0s8jI  (Bloomberg)

   "Cable companies led by Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) are close to winning U.S.
    permission to start encrypting basic- tier signals, two regulatory
    officials said, in a move to fight theft and reduce service calls.
    Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has
    asked fellow commissioners to lift an encryption prohibition in place
    since 1994, the agency officials said yesterday. They asked not to be
    identified because the request hasn't been made public."

 - - -

Of course, what this also does is force every home that is legally
subscribing to cable to have a cable company box for every single TV,
even sets that aren't being used to receive other that basic channels.
We have gone in *exactly* opposite the direction we were supposed to,
originally aimed at the elimination of cable boxes entirely.  Gosh,
what a surprise.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren 
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Founder:
 - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org 
 - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
 - Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org
 - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren 
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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