Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America Announces Support for FCC Mandatory Digital Tu

[Gregg Lengling]

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2003--Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America Inc. (MDEA) today announced that the company is dropping its objections to the regulation issued by the FCC on Aug. 8, 2002 that requires the phase-in of ATSC digital tuners in televisions and other products.
The company decided to drop its objections in light of the FCC's positive reception and aggressive timetable for public comment and decision-making on the recently negotiated National "Plug and Play" Digital Cable Agreement now at the FCC.

"As we stated in our objections to the FCC Digital Tuner Mandate, to saddle 67 percent of consumers with the cost of an integrated digital tuner that has no national cable compatibility would place a terrible burden on the average consumer, considering that less than 15 percent of consumers use antennas," said Robert A. Perry, vice president, marketing at MDEA.

"But now that it appears that the FCC is aggressively moving forward with the recent agreement between the cable and consumer electronics industries, it seems appropriate to recognize the progress. Provided we can give the American public a national 'Plug and Play' cable standard complete with encoding rules to ensure 'Fair Use' home recording rights, a digital tuner mandate is a reasonable approach to speeding the DTV transition for all Americans."

Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America manufactures and markets a comprehensive line of premium quality high-definition projection televisions, HD LCD televisions, HD and ED plasma displays, as well as HD VCRs, tuners and related products for complete home theater systems.

Recognized as the world leader and innovator of big screen and digital television receiver technology, MDEA develops audio and video products that lead the industry in performance, ease-of-use and system integration. For additional information about MDEA, visit http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com.

[FreQi]

...complete with encoding rules to ensure 'Fair Use' home recording rights,..

What's that supposed to mean?

They plan on broadcasting in a unified format so all tuners/recorders can capture/playback the feed?  Or it's encryppted so you have to use proprietary, closed source devices to make use of the signal?