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PUBLIC NOTICE
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554
News media information 202/418-0500 Recorded listing of releases and texts 202/418-2222
          __________________________________________________________________________________


May 13, 1999


Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology Announces Panelists and Topics for 
Roundtable On DTV Receiver Compatibility With Cable Television Service


As announced previously on April 21, 1999, the Commission's Office of Engineering and
Technology, in cooperation with the Office of Plans and Policy, will host a roundtable to discuss
technical issues and progress towards development of standards related to compatibility between
digital television (DTV) services provided by cable and other video distribution services and
consumer electronics equipment.  These roundtable discussions will permit representatives from
the cable, broadcast, program production, and consumer electronics industries to address the
technical issues with respect to these issues and progress that has been made to developing
voluntary industry standards for compatibility.

Time and Place:  This roundtable discussion will be held on Thursday, May 20, 1999, 9:30 a.m. -
12:30 p.m., in the Commission Meeting room at the headquarters building of the Federal
Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C.  20554.

The participants on the roundtable and the agenda of topics be addressed therein are:

Participants: 

Laurie Schwartz Priddy, Senior Vice President Advanced
Technology, AT&T Broadband & Internet Services and
President and CEO of the National Digital Television Center

Richard Prodan, Chief Technical Officer, CableLabs, Inc.

Alan McCullough, President and Chief Operating Officer,
Circuit City Stores, Inc.

Carl McGrath, Vice President, Engineering, Network
Services Division, General Instrument Corporation

Paul Liao, Chief Technology Officer for the Matsushita
Electric Corporation of America and President
of Panasonic Technologies, Inc.

Tom McMahon, Director of Advanced Television
Technology, Microsoft Corporation

Lynn Claudy, Senior Vice President of Science and
Technology, National Association of Broadcasters

Victor Tawil, Senior Vice President, Association
for Maximum Service Television, Inc.

Ed Milbourn, Manager, Advanced Television Systems
Planning, Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc.

Philip Abram, Director, Corporate Strategies and
Business Division, Sony Electronics, Inc.

Jim Chiddix, Chief Technical Officer,
Time Warner Cable

Chris Cookson, Executive Vice President,
Technical Operations, Warner Brothers

Agenda of Topics:  

  1)  Interface solutions for "set-top" devices used with DTV receivers and other equipment

       Connections and Interfaces
       -  IEEE 1394 Connector
                 --  Development of baseline standard(s)
                    --  Deployment plans/outlook
                    --  Major open questions/unresolved issues
       -  RF and baseband analog connections
              --  Development of baseline standard(s)
              --  Deployment plans/outlook
              -  New connections and interfaces

     Copy Protection  
              -  Summary of the copy control problem/threat
              -  Current status of proposed solutions, including current outlook and deployment plans
                    --  DTCP (5C), XCA, Watermarking, other proposals
       -  Industry concerns/sources of delay in reaching a solution

  2) Compatibility Solutions for Digital Cable Ready Receivers and Other Equipment

          Progress of efforts to develop standards for digital cable ready receivers and other equipment
     New uses of standard digital cable interfaces beyond basic television reception and display
     Deployment outlook
       Copy Protection for Cable Ready Equipment

The roundtable panel will be open to the public and seating will be available on a first come, first-
served basis.  If time permits, audience members will be encouraged to ask questions of the
roundtable participants.  The roundtable panel will also be carried live on the Internet.  Internet users
may listen to the real-time audio feed of the roundtables by accessing the FCC Internet Audio
Broadcast Home Page.  Step-by-step instructions on how to listen will to the audio broadcast, as well
as information regarding the equipment and software needed, are available on the FCC Internet Audio
Broadcast Home Page at www.fcc.gov/realaudio.  The internet broadcast also will be available in the
Commission's RealAudio archives on completion of the meeting, at the same Home Page.  For
information on obtaining a videotape of the roundtables, please contact the Commission's Audio-
Visual Office at (202) 418-0460.  Audio tapes of the roundtables may also be purchased from
Infocus, 331 Victory Drive, Herndon, VA 20170, by calling Infocus at (703) 834-0100 or by FAXing
a request to Infocus at (703) 834-0111.

For additional information contact: Alan Stillwell, at (202) 418-2470, astillwe@fcc.gov, or Amy
Nathan, at (202) 418-2030, anathan@fcc.gov.


                             - FCC -