Category: Digital TV

Filings last week in the CUT FATT proceeding at the US FCC on patent overcharging in the US digital TV transition claim that royalty demands for US ATSC-standard television receivers range from $24.10 to $40.10, depending on the size of the TV receiver. The numbers in the table to the right appeared in the Reply…

A group of public interest and consumer groups — Public Knowledge, Consumers Union, Free Press, Media Access Project, and New America Foundation — have filed reply comments in the CUT FATT proceeding on digital TV licensing practices at the US Federal Communications Commission, asserting that the Commission should: “investigate allegations that existing licenses for patents…

I have filed reply comments in the CUT FATT proceeding (09-23).  Excerpt from the executive summary: “The Commission’s request for comments has brought mostly highly critical opposing comments from patent holders, and mostly mild or ambivalent comments from standards groups and other interested parties. Only one commenter, Harris Corporation, themselves an acknowledged recipient of the…

There is much contention in the CUT FATT filings as to how much royalties are claimed on the US and other DTV systems, and what significance the differences may have in the framework of “RAND” (Reasonable and Nondiscriminatory) standards policies and government oversight. The debated amount for royalties on the US DTV system is $23…

Mitsubishi Electric, a patent holder in the ATSC patent pool, in commenting in the CUT FATT DTV patent consideration, makes the statement (emphasis added): “Neither Congress nor a U.S. government agency has ever compelled patent holders to form a licensing pool defined by government-mandated royalties.  In essence, this would be a grant of a compulsory…

FCC Docket 09-23, Petition For Rulemaking And Request For Declaratory Ruling Filed By The Coalition United To Terminate Financial Abuses Of The Television Transition, has drawn filings from Mitsubishi, Valley View, Philips/LG Electronics, Funai, Thomson, ATSC, Harris, Zenith, MPEG LA, Philips/Qualcomm, and Retire Safe. A starting point in reviewing this material is the joint filing…