NAB, APTS Push Online DTV-Box Purchasing

NAB, APTS PUSH ONLINE DTV-BOX PURCHASING
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Commercial and noncommercial broadcasters and tech companies Thursday wrote the National Telecommunications & Information Administration advocating an Internet voucher system for DTV-to-analog converters, which will insure their analog-only viewers don't lose their TV signals. In a letter to acting NTIA head John Kneuer, the broadcasters argued that an online process employing electronic debit cards rather than paper vouchers would cut down on fraud. "While the [Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act pf 2005] requires that the vouchers be mailed to requesting households," they argue, "nothing in the Act requires that the vouchers be printed on paper. In fact, use of electronic debit cards with unique identification numbers that can be tracked to ensure protections against fraud, would reduce fraud and would recognize the reality of online consumer purchasing behavior." The groups signing the letter, which included the National Association of Broadcasters, Association of Public Television Stations, Consumer Electronics Association, Harris Corp., LG Electronics, and the American Library Association, also argued that the cost of the consumer awareness campaign would "far exceed the five million dollars." They called for a "comprehensive, coordinated, and harmonized national consumer effort," to begin "promptly," and expressed their willingness to "actively participate in the task of formulating and managing the consumer education efforts for a successful digital television transition."
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