Congressmen to Propose Digital TV Bill

Hoping to accelerate the country’s shift to digital television, leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Monday said they plan to introduce legislation to resolve several nagging disputes among Hollywood studios, consumer electronics companies, broadcasters and cable operators.

The broad scope of the bill, however, and the short time left in this session of Congress make it doubtful that the legislation would pass this year.

The proposal by Reps. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-La.) and John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) arrives more than five years after the Federal Communications Commission ordered U.S. television stations to switch from analog to digital broadcasting. So far, less than a third of the 1,300 commercial stations have turned on their digital signals, and relatively few consumers have bought digital sets.

Tauzin said he planned to draft a bill by the first week in September, and he urged the various parties to strike compromises.

Sharp disagreements remain, however, on several key issues. These include whether cable operators should carry all analog and digital broadcasts from local stations, how to ensure that digital TV sets are compatible with digital cable TV programs and whether new TV sets should be required to have digital TV tuners.

Some disputes also remain over how to protect digital broadcasts against Internet piracy, although a flurry of recent negotiations have drawn the studios, set makers and high-tech companies closer to a compromise. The Tauzin-Dingell bill also could try to protect digital broadcasts against unauthorized analog copying.

Also Monday, 10 chief executives at top high-tech companies, including Steve Ballmer of Microsoft Corp. and Craig Barrett of Intel Corp., sent a letter to the chief executives of the seven major Hollywood studios cautioning that there is no technological cure-all to the piracy problem.

They offered to join the studios in working on a response to piracy but said the effort also must include educating consumers, enforcing existing laws, offering legitimate alternatives online and respecting consumers’ rights.