Digital TV bill due

[Gregg Lengling]

Legislation would require broadcast of digital signals by '06; include anti-piracy features on TV's.
April 7, 2003: 7:10 AM EDT
 


LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - U.S. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Billy Tauzin plans to introduce later this month his long-expected bill to push forward the transition to digital television, his spokesman said Sunday.

The Louisiana Republican spelled out a plan to end the bickering between broadcasters, consumer electronics manufacturers and cable operators who have made only modest headway in the transition to digital.

The proposed legislation would require broadcasters to transmit digital signals by 2006 as well as end their analog broadcasts by the end of that year.

The new signals would only be picked up by digital televisions and recording devices that included built-in anti-piracy features, according to a draft of the legislation released last fall.

"It's still a work in progress, but the general themes laid out last fall will be a part of our final product," said spokesman Ken Johnson.

The bill would be more of a guide to the transition rather than a mandate, but it could become one if progress isn't made by the industries, Johnson told the American Bar Association's Forum on Communications Law.

Some media companies have been a bit reluctant to embrace the new format, fearing popular shows could become subject to the Internet-based bootlegging that has plagued the music industry over the past several years.

Meanwhile, makers of DVD players and other devices worry that they would have to make machines so laden with restrictions that consumers would not buy them.

The two sides have struggled to reach agreement on a marker called a "broadcast flag" which would allow consumers to record broadcasts for personal use but prevent them from sharing shows over the Internet.

The transition got a push from an agreement between television set makers and cable companies to allow digital cable signals to be directly piped into television sets without extra equipment.

But one important unresolved issue is how cable companies will make the transition from carrying standard broadcasters' analog signals to carrying their digital broadcasts.