FCC fines retailers for breaking DTV transition rules | The Industry Standard - Via The Industry Standard :
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has handed out more than US$6.6 million in fines to 11 retailers and television manufacturers, accusing the companies of violating its rules for the U.S. transition to all-digital broadcasts in early 2009.
Among the companies fined Thursday were Fry's Electronics, Best Buy, Circuit City and Target. The biggest fines went to Sears and subsidiary Kmart, nearly $1.1 million; Wal-Mart, $992,000; and TV manufacturer Syntax-Brillian, nearly $1.3 million.
The FCC accused the retailers of failing to place notices near analog-only TV sets warning customers that the sets did not have digital tuners. read more... »
One phat hi-tech home theatre, gaming system - Via Computerworld Blogs:
If you attend Storage Networking World and walk the exposition floor, you're sure to see more spinning disk subsystems, robotic tape libraries, blinking Fibre Channel switches and screens displaying management software than you can shake a stick at, but the one thing you don't expect to see is one of the nicest home theatre systems money can buy streaming downloaded movies, games and photos through wired and wirelsss links from a consumer-grade server to a state-of-the-art Pioneer 50" plasma 1080p TV. Everyone stopped by this vendor's booth. read more... »
Scammers Exploit DTV Coupon Program - Via Slashdot:
An anonymous reader writes "Analog TV users must purchase a DTV converter box before broadcasts go digital in 2009, and the US Government is offering $40 coupons to support the transition. The coupon program requires retailers to become certified by the NTIA (the Government body running the program) before processing orders for the boxes. Apparently the certification program is a bit lax, as the frenzy to purchase DTV boxes using these coupons seems to have drawn unscrupulous fraud artists into the mix. Memsen, via its web site convertmy.tv and its hardware partner Maxmedia, partnered apparently to pull a bait-and-switch game on unsuspecting consumers and the US Government." Read on for details of the scam claimed by this anonymous reader.
(Read Original Article - Via Slashdot.)
FCC Relaxes Digital-TV Transition Order - Via washingtonpost.com - Technology:
The Federal Communications Commission is planning to lay out a new, more flexible set of guidelines for broadcasters, cable companies and television manufacturers as they try to educate consumers about the coming switch from analog to digital programming.
The commission has been under pressure by consumer groups and members of Congress to take stronger steps in raising awareness about the transition. Broadcasters will stop sending analog signals and move to all-digital programming on Feb. 17, 2009. After that, TV watchers who rely on antennas to receive over-the-air broadcasts will need a special converter box. read more... »
NFL Pulls Plug On Big-Screen Church Parties For Super Bowl - Via washingtonpost.com :
The NFL said, however, that the copyright law on its games is long-standing and the language read at the end of each game is well known: "This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience. Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without the NFL's consent is prohibited."
The league bans public exhibitions of its games on TV sets or screens larger than 55 inches because smaller sets limit the audience size. The section of federal copyright law giving the NFL protection over the content of its programming exempts sports bars, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. read more... »
Thou Shalt Not View The Super Bowl on a 56" Screen - Via Slashdot:
theodp writes
"For 200 members of the Immanuel Bible Church and their friends, the annual Super Bowl party is over thanks to the NFL, which explained that airing NFL games at churches on large-screen TV sets violates the NFL copyright. Federal copyright law includes an exemption for sports bars, according to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, but churches are out of luck. Churchgoers who aren't adverse to a little drinking-and-driving still have the opportunity to see the game together in public on a screen bigger than 55 inches."
(Read Original Article - Via Slashdot.)
FCC to cable: You must support analog TVs until 2012 - Published: September 12, 2007 - 12:39PM CT - Via arstechnica.
Cue the scary music. According to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, "If the cable companies had their way, you, your mother and father, or your next door neighbor could go to sleep one night after watching their favorite channel and wake up the next morning to a dark fuzzy screen."
Martin's talking about the digital TV transition that will happen in February 2009. While the federal government has worked out a plan to help buy digital-to-analog converter boxes for Americans who rely on over-the-air broadcasts and still have analog TV sets, the rules for cable operators were not finalized until yesterday. The FCC voted 5-0 to require that cable operators must continue to make all local broadcasts available to their users, even those with analog televisions. read more... »
Slashdot | HD Monitor Causes DRM Issues with Netflix - Via Slashdot :
Jeremiah Cornelius points us to Davis Freeberg's blog, where he discusses his "nightmare scenario" of losing access to his DRM-protected purchases by upgrading his PC monitor. --- "When I called them they confirmed my worst fears. In order to access the Watch Now service, I had to give Microsoft's DRM sniffing program access to all of the files on my hard drive. read more... »
What is the digital television transition?
At midnight on February 17, 2009, all full-power television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch to 100% digital broadcasting. Digital broadcasting promises to provide a clearer picture and more programming options and will free up airwaves for use by emergency responders. read more... »