Cable Set-Top Box Update

FCC: SET-TOP FINES CAPPED AT $325K
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
Federal Communications Commission officials indicated that fines to cable operators that are not in compliance with the July 1 ban on deploying set-top boxes with integrated security features would not exceed $325,000. The FCC’s Media Bureau, asked what the penalty would be for violating the set-top ban, referred to Section 1.80(b)(1) of the agency’s rules, which describes penalties for violating FCC orders. According to the document, fines for cable operators “shall not exceed $32,500” for each violation or each day of a continuing violation, with a maximum total fine of $325,000 for any continuing violation. It remains unclear, however, whether the FCC would consider every set-top box that includes integrated security deployed after July 1 as a separate violation, or whether it would assess one overall penalty. A $325,000 fine is also the maximum the FCC is allowed to levy against TV stations per indecency violation under a law passed last year, a tenfold increase from the previous maximum.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6416753.html?display=Breaking+News

In a related story...
* CEA: Comcast Stalling on CableCARDs
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
The Consumer Electronics Association, in a filing Thursday with the Federal Communications Commission, said it opposed Comcast’s request that the FCC review the denial of the cable operator’s request for a partial waiver to the so-called integrated set-top ban set to go into effect July 1. “It has now become clear that Comcast is simply seeking to delay the commission’s rules for an interminable time period,” the CEA said in a prepared statement. Comcast declined to comment.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6416907.html?display=Breaking+News