47 U.S.C. § 544a — Consumer electronics equipment compatibility

(a) Findings. Congress finds that cable scrambling, encoding, encryption, converter boxes, and required remote controls often disable useful features in newer televisions and video cassette recorders. If this continues, consumers may buy less equipment and manufacturers may develop less of it. Cable operators should prevent signal theft while allowing those features to work. Compatibility should use narrow minimum technical standards and leave other product, service, and protocol choices to open competition.

(b) Compatible interfaces. (1) The Commission must issue rules needed to make televisions and video cassette recorders compatible with cable systems, consistent with preventing theft, so subscribers can use both cable programming and their equipment's functions. (2) When issuing those rules, the Commission must decide whether, and in what circumstances, cable systems may scramble or encrypt signals or whether limits are needed on how they do so. It may not limit scrambling or encryption that does not interfere with subscribers' equipment functions.

(c) Rulemaking requirements. (1) The Commission must consider: (A) maximizing open competition for converter-box features and options unrelated to descrambling or decrypting cable signals; (B) consumer costs and benefits of compatibility requirements that protect against theft or unauthorized reception while minimizing interference with or cancellation of special functions, including watching one channel^* while recording another, recording two consecutive programs on different channels, and using advanced picture-generation and display features; and (C) cable operators' need to protect transmitted signals from theft or unauthorized reception. (2) The rules must: (A) state^* the technical requirements for equipment sold as “cable compatible” or “cable ready”; (B) require operators offering channels that need a converter box to warn subscribers that those special functions may not work, including the three functions listed above, and, when technically and economically feasible, offer all other channels directly to the television or recorder without the converter; (C) promote commercial availability of compatible converter boxes and remote controls from cable operators and unaffiliated retailers; (D) ensure the compatibility standards do not affect other features or services, including telecommunications^* interfaces, home automation communications, and computer-network services; (E) require an operator that rents a remote control to tell subscribers they may buy one from any seller and to identify compatible types; and (F) prohibit disabling the operator's converter box so it cannot work compatibly with commercially available remote controls.

(d) Review of regulations. The Commission must periodically review and, when needed, change these rules in light of responses to them and improvements or changes in cable systems, televisions, recorders, and similar technology.