[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]{.underline} NEWS MEDIA CONTACT

September 14, 2000 David Fiske 202-418-0513

FCC ADOPTS RULES FOR LABELING OF DTV RECEIVERS

Washington - - The FCC today adopted rules for the labeling of digital
television (DTV) receivers to insure that consumers will be fully
informed about the capabilities of digital TV receivers to operate with
cable television systems.

In a Report and Order, the Commission said that while it would have
preferred a \"comprehensive market-driven solution\" to the labeling
issue, it was adopting this regulatory approach because the relevant
industries were unable to develop a consensus.

The Commission\'s rules specify labels for three categories of DTV
receivers:

(1) \"Digital Cable Ready 1\": a consumer electronics TV receiving
    device capable of receiving analog basic, digital basic and digital
    premium cable television programming by direct connection to a cable
    system providing digital programming. A security card or Point of
    Deployment (POD) module provided by the cable operator is required
    to view encrypted programming. There is no 1394 digital connector or
    other digital interface. This device does not have two-way
    capability using cable facilities.

(2) \"Digital Cable Ready 2\": A consumer electronics TV receiving
    device that in addition to the features of the Digital Cable Ready 1
    sets also includes the 1394 digital interface connector that may be
    used for attaching the receiving device to various other consumer
    appliances. Connection of a Digital Cable Ready 2 receiver to a
    digital set-top box may support advanced and interactive digital
    services and programming delivered by the cable system to the
    set-top box.

(3) \"Digital Cable Ready 3\": A consumer electronics TV receiving
    device that in addition to the features of the Digital Cable Ready 1
    sets is capable of receiving advanced and interactive digital
    services by direct connection to a cable system providing digital
    programming and advanced and interactive digital services. The
    Commission said additional industry work was still required for
    design specifications for the Digital Cable Ready 3 category of
    receivers, and that it would therefore keep the record open in this
    proceeding, giving the Commission the option of incorporating these
    specifications into its rules at a later date.

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The Commission said that the labeling scheme being adopted will permit
consumers to make well-informed decisions about DTV equipment purchases
based on a clear understanding of the capabilities of receivers with
different labels. It said it was not mandating that all \"cable ready\"
receivers or all DTV receivers have a 1394 connector, but said it was
confident that the consumer electronics industry would be responsive to
consumer demand and provide DTV receivers with features that consumers
desire.

The Commission said that in addition to keeping the docket open and
requiring the cable and consumer electronic industries to report to the
Commission on the continuing development of technical standards for the
Digital Cable Ready 3 receivers, it was also requiring the industries to
report back to the Commission on their progress in developing technical
standards in two other areas: direct connection of digital TV receivers
to digital cable television systems, and the provision of tuning and
program schedule information to support on-screen program guides for
consumers. The Commission said that these two issues had been
substantially but not completely resolved in an agreement embodied in a
February 22, 2000, letter to the Commission by the heads of the National
Cable Television Association and the Consumer Electronics Association.
The Commission said that it was thus preserving the option to
incorporate into FCC rules the formal standards that it expected could
result in the future from continuing industry efforts to implement the
February 22, 2000 agreements in these two areas.

The Commission said that all these reporting requirements would be
consolidated into a single reporting timetable beginning October 31,
2000, and every six months thereafter until October 2002.

The Commission determined that the copy protection issue raised in the
NPRM in fact relates to its navigation devices rules. For that reason,
the copy protection licensing issue is incorporated in the Further
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Memorandum Opinion and
Order/Declaratory Ruling in the navigation devices docket. This
decision, also adopted today, includes the finding that the navigation
device rules do permit some amount of copy protection to be included in
commercially available navigation devices.

Action by Report and Order, (FCC No. 00-342)

PP Docket No. 00-67

\- FCC -

Office of Plans and Policy Contacts: Jonathan Levy, Amy Nathan (202)
418-2030 Office of Office of Engineering and Technology Contact: Alan
Stilwell (202) 418-2470