Motorola: Downloadable Security Is Ready
Set-Top-Box Vendor Claims Downloadable MediaCipher Will Satisfy FCC Rules
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 3/23/2007 12:00:00 PM
Motorola, a major supplier of cable set-top boxes and conditional-access systems, developed a low-cost downloadable signal-security solution just a few months ahead of a federal mandate requiring cable operator reliance on CableCARDs in all newly issued set-tops.
Motorola announced the development of the solution, called Downloadable MediaCipher, both in a March 20 meeting with Federal Communications Commission officials and in a letter to FCC chairman Kevin Martin the same day that the agency made available on its web site.
In the two-page letter, Motorola said its DM product would satisfy the FCC’s “goal of a low-cost downloadable security solution that separates the conditional-access function from the set-top while avoiding the costs associated with hardware solutions for the physical separation of the security.”
The letter’s language indicated that the product was ready to go, but a cable-industry source said Motorola's DM wouldn’t become viable until late 2007.
The timing is problem because on July 1, cable operators are banned by the FCC from issuing set-top boxes that house channel-surfing and signal-security functions. Motorola said DM would be available to MSOs that want to rely on downloadable security in lieu of CableCARDs, which insert into credit-card-sized slots in the boxes.
The integration ban is designed to promote the retail sale of cable set-top boxes, the FCC has said. Motorola said DM would assist the FCC's effort.
“The DM solution can be integrated into consumer-electronics equipment and Motorola will license DM to consumer-electronics manufacturers,” Motorola said.
Cable operators have complained that CableCARDs are an expensive solution, but the FCC rejected a major waiver request from Comcast in January. The commission has endorsed downloadable security as an acceptable alternative to CableCARDs.
“Motorola has now developed a downloadable security solution that is a flexible, low-cost option for operators to comply with the integration ban,” the company said.
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