CEA, ESA Seek FCC ACS Waivers for DVRs, Games and Net TVs
DVRs, TVs and videogames with Internet access or other advanced communications services functions aren’t primarily ACS devices and shouldn’t be subject to new FCC disabilities accessibility rules, two trade associations said. The CEA sought a waiver from ACS rules under the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act for models of Internet Protocol-enabled sets and IP-enabled digital video players that are first made anytime before July 1, 2016. The Entertainment Software Association wants an exemption under the same section of the CVAA covering at least eight years of videogames and services, under provisions of an October order (CD Oct 12 p8) from the agency implementing CVAA and setting up a waiver process.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Both associations unsuccessfully sought waivers before release of that order, which said it was encouraging petitioners to resubmit requests under the new requirements (http://xrl.us/bmy9vy). The primary purpose of IP-enabled TVs and DVRs as well as videogames with online functions isn’t to provide a means of communication, the CEA and ESA said in petitions posted Thursday to docket 10-213. “Game industry products and services have a well-established, clearly recognized primary purpose -- game play,” the ESA said. DVRs and TVs’ primary point is “the rendering and/or display of video content, principally full-length, professional-quality video programming,” the CEA said.
The devices’ uses show why they ought to be exempted from ACS rules, the petitions said. “The overwhelming bulk of the functionality on these devices, whether available through pre-installed or user-downloaded and installed applications ('apps'), cannot conceivably be classified as ACS,” the CEA said of DVRs and TVs. Section 716 and ACS rules “expressly authorize the Commission to waive the ACS requirements” in such cases, the association said (http://xrl.us/bmy9wt). Videogames “are plainly not the generalized communications services Congress envisioned reaching when it enacted the CVAA,” the ESA said (http://xrl.us/bmy9wz). “Rather, they are precisely the type of distinct offering for which Congress created the class waiver."
More rules for IP-enabled TVs and DVRs could hurt the development of those devices, “only beginning to gain measurable market penetration, and their use other than for viewing video programming is minimal,” the CEA said. It has forecast 27 percent of TVs shipped this year to dealers will have Internet-connection capabilities. Web-capable DVRs also are “relatively new in the marketplace,” the association said. Because the life cycle of the DVRs and TVs is about three years, they should be exempt from ACS rules until 2016, the CEA said. That’s “less than three years after the expiration of the ACS phase-in period,” it said. LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Vizio are among companies manufacturing both types of products the CEA wants excused, it said.
The three classes of games, services and software ESA seeks exemption for shouldn’t face ACS rules for at least eight years, the groups said. “Although we believe that a permanent waiver would be appropriate here, we are requesting a time-limited initial waiver in order to allow the Commission to monitor developments in the industry,” the group said. The clock should start ticking on a waiver once the phase-in period ends, and an exemption should be renewable, the ESA said. The classes for which ESA seeks an FCC ruling include game consoles, peripherals and “integrated” online networks; game distribution and online play services; and game software.
The FCC is among federal agencies saying game products and services have their “own, distinct category,” the ESA said. “Game industry products and services have well-defined characteristics that clearly set them apart from telecommunications and other products and services. Regulators agree.” ACS-like features on such products “are simply one among a number of ancillary features utilizing online connectivity to augment the game experience, along with multiplayer gaming, tracking leaderboards, administering tournaments, seeing what games others are playing, and downloading new games and software updates,” the ESA said. The across-the-board waiver would “enable the FCC to focus its resources on products and services generally used for ACS,” the petition said, “not on potentially hundreds of game-related waivers annually.”