FCC Circulates Order Lifting Basic Encryption Ban

According to sources, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has circulated an order allowing cable operators to encrypt basic tiers and it is said to incorporate some accommodations for IP-enabled devices -- like Boxee -- offered up by cable operators to help secure passage of the item.

The FCC signaled last fall it wanted to remove the ban, which cable operators had asked it to do. Sources suggest the commissioners, Democratic and Republican, are generally on board with the order, though a vote is not expected until at least next week. According to a source familiar with the order, the FCC did not include a three-year sunset, but instead agreed with the Consumer Electronics Association that it should not be time-limited given that it is a nascent market. The Media Bureau will review the market in two years, though. According to an FCC source, the commission has incorporated the cable proposals into its proposed order, though details were not available. The source said cable ops have already started asking for meetings next week, which means cable ops may not have gotten everything they wanted out of the order, like that absence of a 3-year sunset.