Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 58467

Center, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY–

A257).’’

PART 73—RADIO BROADCAST

SERVICES

23. The authority citation for Part 73

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334 and 336.

§ 73.622 [Amended]

24. Section 73.622(c) is amended by

removing the words ‘‘1919 M St., NW.,

Dockets Branch (Room 239)’’ and

adding, in their place, the words ‘‘Room

CY–C203, 445 12th Street, SW.,

Reference Information Center’’.

§ 73.623 [Amended]

25. Section 73.623(c)(2) is amended

by removing the words ‘‘1919 M St.,

NW., Dockets Branch (Room 239)’’ and

adding in their place, the words ‘‘Room

CY–C203, 445 12th Street, SW.,

Reference Information Center’’.

§ 73.682 [Amended]

26. Section 73.682 (a)(21)(iv) is

amended by removing the words

‘‘Commission’s Office of Engineering

and Technology, Technical Standards

Branch, 2025 M Street, NW’’ and

adding, in their place, the words ‘‘FCC

Warehouse, 9300 East Hampton Drive,

Capitol Heights, MD 20743’’.

27. Section 73.682 (d) is amended by

removing the words ‘‘ 1919 M Street,

NW.,’’ and adding, in their place, the

words ‘‘445 12th Street, SW.’’

PART 74—EXPERIMENTAL RADIO,

AUXILLARY, SPECIAL BROADCAST

AND OTHER PROGRAM

DISTRIBUTIONAL SERVICES

28. The authority citation for Part 74

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 307, and

554.

§ 74.705 [Amended]

29. Section 74.705 (e) is amended by

removing the words ‘‘1919 M St., NW.,

Dockets Branch (Room 239)’’ and

adding, in their place, the words ‘‘CY–

C203, 445 12th Street, SW., Reference

Information Center’’.

§ 74.701 [Amended]

30. Section 74.707 (e) is amended by

removing the words ‘‘1919 M St., NW.,

Dockets Branch (Room 239)’’ and

adding, in their place, the words ‘‘Room

CY–C203, 445 12th Street, SW.,

Reference Information Center’’.

PART 87—AVIATION SERVICES

31. The authority citation for Part 87

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Sections 4(i), 11, 303(g), 303(r),

and 332(c)(7) of the Communications Act of

1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 161,

303(g), 303(r), 332(c)(7).

§ 87.199 [Amended]

32. Section 87.199(a) is amended by

removing the words ‘‘1919 M Street

NW’’ and adding, in their place, the

words ‘‘445 12th Street, SW.’’

PART 90—PRIVATE LAND MOBILE

SERVICES

33. The authority citation for Part 90

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 307, and

554.

§ 90.7 [Amended]

34. In Section 90.7, the definition of

EA-based or EA license, is amended by

removing the words ‘‘Wireless

Telecommunications Bureau public

reference room, Room 5608, 2025 M St.,

NW.,’’ and adding, in their place the

words ‘‘Reference Information Center

(Room CY–A257), 445 12th Street,

SW.,’’

35. In Section 90.7, the definition of

MTA-based license or MTA license, is

amended by removing the words

‘‘Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

public reference room, Room 628, 1919

M St., NW.,’’ and adding, in their place

the words ‘‘Reference Information

Center (Room CY–A257), 445 12th

Street, SW.,’’

36. In Section 90.7, the definition of

900 MHz SMR MTA-based license or

MTA license is, amended by removing

the words ‘‘Office of Engineering

Technology’s Technical Information

Center, room 7317, 2025 M St., NW.,’’

and adding, in their place the words

‘‘Reference Information Center (Room

CY–A257), 445 12th Street, SW.,’’

[FR Doc. 00–25094 Filed 9–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 15

[ET Docket No. 99–231, FCC 00–312]

Spread Spectrum Devices

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; correction.

SUMMARY: This document corrects the

effective date of the final rule which

was published in the Federal Register of

September 25, 2000 (65 FR 57557),

regarding the Commission’s rules for

frequency hopping spread spectrum

devices. The DATES section of the final

is corrected as set forth below.

DATES: Effective October 25, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Neal

L. McNeil, Office of Engineering and

Technology, (202) 418–2408, TTY (202)

418–2989, e-mail: mcneil@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As

originally published, the Federal

Register had an erroneous effective date.

This document corrects that error.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–25015 Filed 9–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–U

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 15 and 79

[ET Docket 99–254; FCC 00–259]

Closed Captioning Requirements for

Digital Television Receivers

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This document adopt

technical standards for the display of

closed captions on digital television

(DTV) receivers. The Commission also

requires the inclusion of closed

captioning decoder circuitry in DTV

receivers. The requirements contained

herein will help ensure access to digital

programming for people with

disabilities. This action is taken to fulfill

the Commission’s obligations contained

in the Television Decoder Circuitry Act

of 1990.

DATES: Effective October 30, 2000. The

incorporation by reference of certain

publications in this rule is approved by

the Director of the Federal Register as of

October 30, 2000.

Compliance Date: July 1, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Neal

L. McNeil, Office of Engineering and

Technology, (202) 418–2408, TTY (202)

418–2989, e-mail: nmcneil@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Commission’s Report

and Order, ET Docket 99–254, FCC 00–

259, adopted July 21, 2000 and released

July 31, 2000. The full text of this

document is available for inspection

and copying during regular business

hours in the FCC Reference Center,

(Room TW–A306) 445 12th Street SW.,

58468 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

1See 5 U.S.C. 603. The RFA, see 5 U.S.C. 601 et

seq., has been amended by the Contract With

America Advancement Act of 1996, Public Law

104–121, 110 Stat. 847 (1996) (CWAAA). Title II of

the CWAAA is the Small Business Regulatory

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA).

Washington, DC. The complete text of

this document also may be purchased

from the Commission’s duplication

contractor, International Transcription

Service, Inc., (202) 857–3800, 1231 20th

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20036.

Summary of Report and Order

1. By this action, the Commission

amends Part 15 of its rules to adopt

technical standards for the display of

closed captions on digital television

(DTV) receivers. The Television Decoder

Circuitry Act of 1990 (‘‘TDCA’’) requires

generally that television receivers

contain circuitry to decode and display

closed captioning. See Public Law 101–

431, 104 Stat. 960 (1990) (codified at 47

U.S.C. 303(u), 330(b)).

2. The TDCA requires that ‘‘apparatus

designed to receive television pictures

broadcast simultaneously with sound be

equipped with built-in decoder circuitry

designed to display closed-captioned

television transmissions when such

apparatus is manufactured in the United

States or imported for use in the United

States, and its television picture screen

is 13 inches or greater in size.’’ See

Communications Act of 1934, as

amended, 47 U.S.C. 303(u). The TDCA

further states that ‘‘[a]s new technology

is developed, the Commission shall take

such action as the Commission

determines appropriate to ensure that

closed-captioning service continues to

be available to consumers.’’ See 47

U.S.C. 330(b). The Commission adopted

rules to implement the provisions of the

TDCA in 1991. The rules, in § 15.119,

provide standards for the display of

closed captioned text on analog

television receivers, the only receivers

in use at that time. See 47 CFR 15.119.

The introduction of digital broadcasting

now requires the Commission to update

its rules to fulfill its continuing

obligations under the TDCA.

3. The Commission’s DTV proceeding

incorporated an industry approved

transmission standard for DTV

broadcasts into its rules. See Fourth

Report and Order in MM Docket 87–

268, FCC 96–493, 62 FR 14006 (1997),

and 47 CFR 73.682(d). The standard

included a data stream reserved for

closed captioning information, however,

specific instructions for implementing

closed captioning services for digital

television were not included. The

Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) has

since adopted a standard, EIA–708,

which provides guidelines for encoder

and decoder manufacturers as well as

caption providers to implement closed

captioning services with digital

television technology. In the Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), ET

Docket No. 99–254, 64 FR 41897

(August 1999), in this proceeding the

Commission proposed to adopt a

minimum set of technical standards for

closed caption decoder circuitry for

digital television receivers in

accordance with Section 9 of EIA–708

and to require the inclusion of such

decoder circuitry in digital television

receivers.

4. In response to the NPRM, sixteen

parties filed comments. Thirty-four

parties filed reply comments.

Commenters included advocacy groups,

manufacturers of consumer electronic

equipment, trade organizations

representing broadcast and cable

interests, private citizens, and caption

service providers. Based on the

comments received, this adopts the

requirement of Section 9 of EIA–708,

with the following modifications:

Decoder Operation

• Decoders must support the

standard, large, and small caption sizes

and must allow the caption provider to

choose a size and allow the viewer to

choose an alternative size.

• Decoders must support the display

of eight fonts. Caption providers may

specify 1 of these 8 font styles to be

used to write caption text. Decoders

must include the ability for consumers

to choose among the eight fonts. The

decoder must display the font chosen by

the caption provider unless the viewer

chooses a different font.

• Decoders must implement the same

8 character background colors as those

that Section 9 requires be implemented

for character foreground (white, black,

red, green, blue, yellow, magenta and

cyan).

• Decoders must implement options

for altering the appearance of caption

character edges.

• Decoders must display the color

chosen by the caption provider, and

must allow viewers to override the

foreground and/or background color

chosen by the caption provider and

select alternate colors.

• Decoders must be capable of

decoding and processing data for the six

standard services, but information from

only one service need be displayed at a

given time.

• Decoders must include an option

that permits a viewer to choose a setting

that will display captions as intended

by the caption provider (a default).

Decoders must also include an option

that allows a viewer’s chosen settings to

remain until the viewer chooses to alter

these settings, including during periods

when the television is turned off.

• Cable providers and other

multichannel video programming

distributors must transmit captions in a

format that will be understandable to

this decoder circuitry in digital cable

television sets when transmitting

programming to digital television

devices.

Covered Devices

• All digital television receivers with

picture screens in the 4:3 aspect ratio

measuring at least 13 inches diagonally,

digital television receivers with picture

screens in the 16:9 aspect ratio

measuring 7.8 inches or larger vertically

(this size corresponds to the vertical

height of an analog receiver with a 13

inch diagonal), and all DTV tuners,

shipped in interstate commerce or

manufactured in the United States must

comply with the minimum decoder

requirements we are adopting here.

• The rules apply to DTV tuners

whether or not they are marketed with

display screens.

• Converter boxes used to display

digital programming on analog receivers

must deliver the encoded ‘‘analog’’

caption information to the attached

analog receiver.

Compliance Dates

• Manufacturers must begin to

include DTV closed caption

functionality in DTV devices in

accordance with the rules adopted in

the Order by July 1, 2002.

• As provided for in the

Commission’s rules establishing

requirements for the closed captioning

of video programming adopted in a 1997

Order, programming prepared or

formatted for display on digital

television receivers before the date that

digital television decoders are required

to be included in digital television

devices is considered ‘‘pre-rule’’

programming. As stated above, this

order establishes that date as July 1,

2002. Therefore, programming prepared

or formatted for display on digital

television after that date will be

considered new programming. The

existing rules require an increasing

amount of captioned new programming

over an eight-year transition period with

100% of all new nonexempt

programming required to be captioned

by January 1, 2006.

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

5. As required by the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (‘‘RFA’’),1 an Initial

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

(‘‘IRFA’’) was incorporated into the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 58469

2See ET Docket 99–254, FCC 99–180, 64 FR

41897 (1999).

3See 5 U.S.C. 604.

4Public Law 101–431, 104 Stat. 960 (1990)

(codified at 47 U.S.C. 303(u), 303(b)).

5 5 U.S.C. 603(b)(3).

6See 5 U.S.C. 601(3).

7 15 U.S.C. 632.

8 13 CFR 121.201, (SIC) Code 3663.

9U.S. Department of Commerce, 1992 Census

Transportation, Communications, and Utilities, SIC

Code 3663 (issued May 1995).

10 13 CFR 121.201.

11 1992 Census, supra, at Firm Size 1–123. See

Implementation of Sections of the Cable

Telecommunications Consumer Protection and

Competition Act of 1992, Rate Regulation and Cable

Pricing Flexibility, MM Docket No. 92–266 and CS

Docket No. 96–157, Memorandum Opinion and

Order and Notice of Proposed Rule Making, 61 FR

45356, August 29, 1996.

12 47 CFR 76.901(e). The Commission developed

this definition based on its determinations that a

small cable company is one with annual revenues

of $100 million or less. Implementation of Sections

of the 1992 Cable Act: Rate Regulation, MM Docket

Nos. 92–266 & 93–215, Sixth Report and Order and

Eleventh Order on Reconsideration, 60 FR 35854,

July 12, 1995.

13Paul Kagan Associates, Inc., Cable TV Investor,

Feb. 29, 1996 (based on figures for Dec. 30, 1995).

14 47 CFR 76.901(c).

15 47 U.S.C. 543(m)(2).

16 47 CFR 76.1403(b).

17Paul Kagan Associates, Inc., Cable TV Investor,

Feb. 29, 1996 (based on figures for Dec. 30, 1995).

Notice of Proposed Rule Making

(‘‘NPRM’’) in this docket, ET Docket 99–

254.2 The Commission sought written

public comment on the proposals in the

NPRM, including comment on the IRFA.

The Final Regulatory Flexibility

Analysis (‘‘FRFA’’) in this Report and

Order conforms to the RFA.3

A. Need for, and Objectives of, the

Report and Order

6. This Report and Order amends the

Commission’s rules to adopt technical

standards for the display of closed

captions on digital television (‘‘DTV’’)

receivers. In 1990, Congress passed the

Television Decoder Circuitry Act

(‘‘TDCA’’).4 The TDCA requires that any

apparatus designed to receive television

broadcast signals, manufactured or

imported for use in the United States,

must be able to display closed captioned

information if its television screen is 33

centimeters (13 inches) or larger. The

TDCA also instructs the Commission to

ensure that closed captioning service

continues to be available to consumers

as new video technology is developed.

The introduction of digital broadcasting

requires the Commission to update its

rules to fulfill its continuing obligations

under the TDCA.

B. Summary of Significant Issues

Raised by Public Comments in

Response to the IRFA

7. No comments were filed in

response to the IRFA or specifically

regarding small entities.

C. Description and Estimate of the

Number of Small Entities to Which the

Rules Will Apply

8. The RFA directs agencies to

provide a description of, and, where

feasible, an estimate of the number of

small entities that may be affected by

the proposed rules, if adopted.5 The

RFA generally defines the term ‘‘small

entity’’ as having the same meaning as

the terms ‘‘small business,’’ ‘‘small

organization,’’ and ‘‘small governmental

jurisdictions.’’ In addition, the term

‘‘small business’’ has the same meaning

as the term ‘‘small business concern’’

under the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C.

632, unless the Commission has

developed one or more definitions that

are appropriate to its activities.6 A

‘‘small business concern’’ is one that: (1)

is independently owned and operated;

(2) is not dominant in its field of

operation; and (3) meets any additional

criteria established by the Small

Business Administration (‘‘SBA’’).7

9. Television Equipment

Manufacturers. According to the SBA’s

regulations, television equipment

manufacturers must have 750 or fewer

employees in order to qualify as a small

business concern.8 Census Bureau data

indicates that there are 858 U.S.

companies that manufacture radio and

television broadcasting and

communications equipment, and that

778 of these firms have fewer than 750

employees and would be classified as

small entities.9 The Census Bureau

category is very broad, and specific

figures are not available as to how many

of these firms are manufacturers of

television equipment. However, we

believe that many of the companies that

manufacture television equipment may

qualify as small entities.

10. Multichannel Video Programming

Distributors (‘‘MVPDs’’). The SBA has

developed a definition of small entities

for cable and other pay television

services under Standard Industrial

Classification 4841 (SIC 4841), which

covers subscription television services,

which includes all such companies with

annual gross revenues of $11 million or

less.10 This definition includes cable

systems operators, closed circuit

television services, direct broadcast

satellite services, multipoint

distribution systems, satellite master

antenna systems and subscription

television services. According to the

Census Bureau, there were 1,423 such

cable and other pay television services

generating less than $11 million in

revenue that were in operation for at

least one year at the end of 1992.11 The

following provides a more precise

estimate for the affected MVPD services

individually.

11. Cable Services or Systems. The

Commission has developed, with SBA’s

approval, its own definition of a ‘‘small

cable company’’ and ‘‘small system’’ for

the purposes of rate regulation. Under

the Commission’s rules, a ‘‘small cable

company,’’ is one serving fewer than

400,000 subscribers nationwide.12

Based on our most recent information,

we estimate that there were 1,439 cable

companies that qualified as small cable

companies at the end of 1995.13 Since

then, some of those companies may

have grown to serve over 400,000

subscribers, and others may have been

involved in transactions that caused

them to be combined with other cable

companies. Consequently, we estimate

that there are fewer than 1,439 small

entity cable companies. The

Commission’s rules also define a ‘‘small

system,’’ for the purposes of cable rate

regulation, as a cable system with

15,000 or fewer subscribers.14 We do

not request nor do we collect

information concerning cable systems

serving 15,000 or fewer subscribers and

thus are unable to estimate at this time

the number of small cable systems

nationwide.

12. The Communications Act also

contains a definition of a ‘‘small cable

operator,’’ which is ‘‘a cable operator

that, directly or through an affiliate,

serves in the aggregate fewer than 1

percent of all subscribers in the United

States and is not affiliated with any

entity or entities whose gross annual

revenues in the aggregate exceed

$250,000,000.’’ 15 The Commission has

determined that there are 61,700,000

subscribers in the United States.

Therefore, we found that an operator

serving fewer than 617,000 subscribers

is deemed a small operator, if its annual

revenues, when combined with the total

annual revenues of all of its affiliates, do

not exceed $250 million in the

aggregate.16 Based on available data, we

find that the number of cable operators

serving 617,000 subscribers or less totals

1,450.17 Although it seems certain that

some of these cable system operators are

affiliated with entities whose gross

annual revenues exceed $250,000,000,

we are unable at this time to estimate

with greater precision the number of

cable system operators that would

qualify as small cable operators under

the definition in the Communications

Act. Furthermore, of those cable system

operators that may qualify as small

58470 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

18 13 CFR 121.201.

19See Annual Assessment of the Stations of

Competition in Markets for the Delivery of Video

Programming, CS Docket No. 97–141, Fourth

Annual Report, 63 FR 10222, March 2, 1998.

20 13 CFR 121.201.

21See Annual Assessment of the Stations of

Competition in Markets for the Delivery of Video

Programming, CS Docket No. 99–230, Sixth Annual

Report, 64 FR 36013, July 2, 1999.

22 General Instruments developed DVS–157 in

1992–1993 as a means for delivering NTSC

captioning data (formatted pursuant to industry

standard EIA–608) within digital video signals.

cable operators, only those that deliver

digital cable programming would be

affected by our rules. According to

General Instrument Corporation,

approximately 1,000 headends are

currently delivering digital video

signals. It is uncertain how many of

these 1,000 cable operators fall under

the definition of a small cable company

based on the Commission’s rules or the

Communications Act, but in any event

the number would be no greater than

1,000.

13. Direct Broadcast Satellite (‘‘DBS’’)

Service. The SBA includes DBS service

in its classification of cable and other

pay television services. Therefore, a

small DBS service is defined as a

company generating $11 million or less

in annual receipts.18 As of November

1999, there were four DBS licensees,

one of which was not in operation.

Providing DBS service requires a great

investment of capital to build, launch,

and operate satellite systems. Typically,

small businesses do not have the

financial ability to become DBS

licensees because of the high

implementation costs associated with

launching satellites. Most recent

industry statistics suggest that the

revenue attributed to DBS subscribers

for EchoStar was $682.8 million for the

year of 1998 and $1.55 billion for

DirecTV. We do not have similar

revenue information for the third

operating licensee, Dominion Video

Satellite, Inc. However, we do not

believe that any DBS licensees could be

categorized as a small business.

14. Home Satellite Dish (‘‘HSD’’)

Service. The market for HSD service is

difficult to quantify. HSD owners have

access to more than 500 channels of

programming placed on C-band

satellites by programmers for receipt

and distribution by MVPDs, of which

350 channels are scrambled and

approximately 150 channels are

unscrambled.19 To receive scrambled

channels, an HSD owner must purchase

an integrated receiver-decoder from an

equipment dealer and pay a

subscription fee to an HSD

programming packager. Thus, those

HSD users that subscribe to a

programming package are similar to

consumers that subscribe to cable and

other pay television services.

Accordingly, it appears that the

definition of small entity under SIC

4841 (i.e., all such companies generating

$11 million or less in annual receipts 20)

would be applicable to this service.

15. According to the most recently

available information, there are

approximately 20 to 25 program

packagers nationwide offering packages

of scrambled programming to retail

consumers. As of June 1999, these

program packagers provide

subscriptions to approximately

1,783,411 subscribers nationwide.21

This is an average of about 90,000

subscribers per program packager. This

is substantially smaller than the 400,000

subscribers used in the Commission’s

definition of a small multiple system

operator (‘‘MSO’’). Furthermore,

because this is an average, it is likely

that some program packagers may be

substantially smaller. Therefore, this

Report and Order could affect all 25

program packagers.

D. Description of Projected Reporting,

Record Keeping and Other Compliance

Requirements

16. The Commission’s rules require

television receivers to be verified for

compliance with applicable FCC

technical requirements. See 47 CFR

15.101, 15.117, and 2.951, et seq.

Documentation concerning the

verification must be kept by the

manufacturer or importer. The rules

adopted in this proceeding require that

digital television receivers comply with

industry-developed standards for closed

captioning display. However, testing

regarding closed captioning display is

not necessary because compliance with

the industry-developed standards, and

the associated Commission rules, can be

determined easily during the equipment

design process. The Commission may,

of course, ask manufacturers and

importers to document upon occasion

how a particular television receiver or

computer system complies with the

closed captioning display requirements.

This should be a nominal request,

requiring no specific expertise or

knowledge, and should be

accomplished in a very brief amount of

time.

E. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant

Economic Impact on Small Entities, and

Significant Alternatives Considered

17. The RFA requires an agency to

describe any significant alternatives that

it has considered in reaching its

proposed approach, which may include

the following four alternatives (among

others): (1) the establishment of

differing compliance or reporting

requirements or timetables that take into

account the resources available to small

entities; (2) the clarification,

consolidation, or simplification of

compliance or reporting requirements

under the rule for small entities; (3) the

use of performance, rather than design,

standards; and (4) an exemption from

coverage of the rule, or any part thereof,

for small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603(c).

18. Some commenters representing

cable operators and cable equipment

manufacturers are concerned that

adoption of the proposals in the NPRM

will render many cable boxes obsolete.

They state that the boxes that are used

to receive digital cable programming are

unable to process EIA–708 data. These

boxes only read closed captioning data

which has been delivered through a

cable system pursuant to the Society of

Cable Telecommunications Engineers

(‘‘SCTE’’) standard DVS–157.22 Many

cable boxes that only receive caption

data delivered via DVS–157 are already

in customer’s homes and are being used

to view digital cable programming on

analog televisions.

19. Cable commenters propose that

the Commission adopt rules that would

require that digital closed captioning

information be delivered in the DVS–

157 format and would require that

digital televisions (‘‘DTVs’’) contain

decoder circuitry that responds to DVS–

157. Alternatively, they state that the

Commission could consider a ‘‘dual

carriage’’ requirement wherein

broadcasters would deliver captions in

both the EIA–708 format and the DVS–

157 format. The third option they

suggest is that the Commission detail

which advanced features are required,

such as support for multiple character

colors, and let manufacturers design

receivers to accomplish these features

using existing captioning standards and

the digital television’s built-in graphic

processing capabilities.

20. We disagree with these suggested

alternatives to the proposed rules. We

note that the comments and replies in

this proceeding express an

overwhelming support for adoption of

the EIA–708 standard. Although

commenters have raised some concerns

regarding the amount of EIA–708 to

include in our rules, most were in favor

of adopting at least portions of the

standard. Adoption of EIA–708 will

supply manufacturers with a uniform

set of rules to follow in providing closed

captioning capability. Furthermore,

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 58471

23SCTE DVS/335, ‘‘Report of DVS/313 Drafting

Group on Outstanding Issues of DVS 313 Revision

1’’, April 27, 2000.

EIA–708 is the logical choice for

delivering closed caption information to

digital television receivers because

DTVs have been designed to receive

programming formatted pursuant to the

digital television transmission standard,

ATSC A/53. The transmission standard

reserves a data stream for the delivery

of caption information. EIA–708 was

developed to fill that reserved space. In

the NPRM the Commission proposed

that manufacturers comply with the

regulations within one year. However,

to minimize the impact on businesses,

including small entities, we have

provided two years in order to comply.

21. We note that SCTE, which is

currently drafting its Digital Cable

Network Interface Standard, has delayed

modifying the closed captioning

requirements in that standard, pending

FCC action in this proceeding. SCTE

notes that, ‘‘Some have proposed that

the references to the current practice of

using DVS–157 to transport captions be

removed. They want to be able to build

portable receiving devices compatible

with these specifications without the

support to decode captions carried in

the DVS–157 format.’’ 23 Therefore, it

appears that the industry is already

working to resolve this standards issue.

22. The Commission will send a copy

of the Report and Order, including this

FRFA, in a report to be sent to Congress

pursuant to SBREFA. In addition, the

Commission will send a copy of the

Report and Order, including FRFA, to

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the

SBA.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Parts 15 and

79

Communications equipment, Closed

captioning, Incorporation by reference,

Television.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

Rule Changes

For the reasons discussed in the

preamble, the Federal Communications

Commission amends 47 CFR parts 15

and 79 as follows:

PART 15—RADIO FREQUENCY

DEVICES

The authority citation for part 15 is

revised to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 302, 303, 304,

307, 330, and 544A.

1. Section 15.119, the section heading

is revised to read as follows:

§ 15.119 Closed caption decoder

requirements for analog television

receivers.

* * * * *

2. A new § 15.122 is added to read as

follows:

§ 15.122 Closed caption decoder

requirements for digital television receivers

and converter boxes.

(a)(1) Effective July 1, 2002, all digital

television receivers with picture screens

in the 4:3 aspect ratio with picture

screens measuring 13 inches or larger

diagonally, all digital television

receivers with picture screens in the

16:9 aspect ratio measuring 7.8 inches

or larger vertically and all separately

sold DTV tuners shipped in interstate

commerce or manufactured in the

United States shall comply with the

provisions of this section.

Note to paragraph (a)(1): This paragraph

places no restrictions on the shipping or sale

of digital television receivers that were

manufactured before July 1, 2002.

(2) Effective July 1, 2002, DTV

converter boxes that allow digitally

transmitted television signals to be

displayed on analog receivers shall pass

available analog caption information to

the attached receiver in a form

recognizable by that receiver’s built-in

caption decoder circuitry.

Note to paragraph (a)(2): This paragraph

places no restrictions on the shipping or sale

of DTV converter boxes that were

manufactured before July 1, 2002.

(b) Digital television receivers and

tuners must be capable of decoding

closed captioning information that is

delivered pursuant to the industry

standard EIA–708–B, ‘‘Digital

Television (DTV) Closed Captioning,’’

Electronic Industries Alliance

(December, 1999). This incorporation by

reference was approved by the Director

of the Federal Register in accordance

with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51.

Digital television manufacturers may

wish to view EIA–708–B in its entirety.

Copies of EIA–708–B may be obtained

from: Global Engineering Documents, 15

Inverness Way East, Englewood, CO

80112–5704, http://www.global.ihs.com/

. Copies of EIA–708–B may be inspected

during regular business hours at the

following locations: Federal

Communications Commission, 445 12th

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554, or

the Office of the Federal Register, 800 N.

Capitol Street, NW., Suite 700,

Washington, DC.

(c) Services. (1) Decoders must be

capable of decoding and processing data

for the six standard services, Caption

Service #1 through Caption Service #6.

(2) Decoders that rely on Program and

System Information Protocol data to

implement closed captioning functions

must be capable of decoding and

processing the Caption Service

Directory data. Such decoders must be

capable of decoding all Caption Channel

Block Headers consisting of Standard

Service Headers, Extended Service

Block Headers, and Null Block headers.

However, decoding of the data is

required only for Standard Service

Blocks (Service IDs <-6), and then only

if the characters for the corresponding

language are supported. The decoders

must be able to display the directory for

services 1 through 6.

(d) Code space organization. (1)

Decoders must support Code Space C0,

G0, C1, and G1 in their entirety.

58472 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

(2) The following characters within

code space G2 must be supported:

(i) Transparent space (TSP).

(ii) Non-breaking transparent space

(NBTSP).

(iii) Solid block ( ).

(iv) Trademark symbol (TM).

(v) Latin-1 characters (S ̆, ), s ̆, X, Y

 ̈

).

(3) The substitutions in Table 2 are to

be made if a decoder does not support

the remaining G2 characters.

TABLE 2.—G2 CHARACTER SUBSTITUTION TABLE

G2 Character Substitute with

Open single quote (‘), G2 char code 0×31 .......................................................................................... G0 single quote (‘), char code 0×27

Close single quote (’), G2 char code 0×32 ......................................................................................... G0 single quote (’), char code 0×27

Open double quote (‘‘), G2 char code 0×33 ....................................................................................... G0 double quote (‘‘), char code 0×22

Close double quote (’’), G2 char code 0×34 ....................................................................................... G0 double quote (’’), char code 0×22

Bold bullet (•), G2 char code 0×35 ..................................................................................................... G1 bullet (•), char code 0×B7

Elipsis (. . .), G2 char code 0×25 ....................................................................................................... G0 underscore ( ), char code 0×5F

One-eighth (1⁄8), G2 char code 0×76 ................................................................................................... G0 percent sign (%), char code 0×25

Three-eighths (3⁄8), G2 char code 0×77 .............................................................................................. G0 percent sign (%), char code 0×25

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 58473

TABLE 2.—G2 CHARACTER SUBSTITUTION TABLE—Continued

G2 Character Substitute with

Five-eighths (5⁄8), G2 char code 0×78 ................................................................................................. G0 percent sign (%), char code 0×25

Seven-eighths (7⁄8), G2 char code 0×79 ............................................................................................. G0 percent sign (%), char code 0×25

Vertical border (|), G2 char code 0×7A ............................................................................................... G0 stroke (|), char code 0×7C

Upper-right border (), G2 char code 0×7B ......................................................................................... G0 dash (-), char code 0×2D

Lower-left border (), G2 char code 0×7C ........................................................................................... G0 dash (-), char code 0×2D

Horizontal border (—), G2 char code 0×7D ........................................................................................ G0 dash (-), char code 0×2D

Lower-right border (), G2 char code 0×7E ......................................................................................... G0 dash (-), char code 0×2D

Upper-left border (), G2 char code 0×7F ........................................................................................... G0 dash (-), char code 0×2D

(4) Support for code spaces C2, C3,

and G3 is optional. All unsupported

graphic symbols in the G3 code space

are to be substituted with the G0

underscore character ( ), char code

0×5F.

(e) Screen coordinates. Table 3

specifies the screen coordinate

resolutions and limits for anchor point

positioning in 4:3 and 16:9 display

formats, and the number of characters

per row.

TABLE 3.—SCREEN COORDINATE RESOLUTIONS AND LIMITS

Screen aspect ratio Maximum anchor position resolution

Minimum anchor position resolution

Maximum

displayed

rows

Maximum

characters

per row

4:3 ...................................................................................................... 75v × 160h ................ 15v × 32h .................. 4 32

16:9 .................................................................................................... 75v × 210h ................ 15v × 42h .................. 4 42

Other .................................................................................................. 75v × (5 × H) ............. 15v × H* .................... 4 1

1H = 32 × (the width of the screen in relation to a 4:3 display). For example, the 16:9 format is 1⁄3 wider than a 4:3 display; thus, H = 32 * 4⁄3 =

42.667, or 42.

(1) This means that the minimum grid

resolution for a 4:3 aspect ratio

instrument is 15 vertical positions × 32

horizontal positions. This minimum

grid resolution for 16:9 ratio instrument

is 15 vertical positions × 42 horizontal

positions. These minimum grid sizes are

to cover the entire safe-title area of the

corresponding screen.

(2) The minimum coordinates equate

to a 1⁄5 reduction in the maximum

horizontal and vertical grid resolution

coordinates. Caption providers are to

use the maximum coordinate system

values when specifying anchor point

positions. Decoders using the minimum

resolution are to divide the provided

horizontal and vertical screen

coordinates by 5 to derive the

equivalent minimum coordinates.

(3) Any caption targeted for both 4:3

and 16:9 instruments is limited to 32

contiguous characters per row. If a

caption is received by a 4:3 instrument

that is targeted for a 16:9 display only,

or requires a window width greater than

32 characters, then the caption may be

completely disregarded by the decoder.

16:9 instruments should be able to

process and display captions intended

for 4:3 displays, providing all other

minimum recommendations are met.

(4) If the resulting size of any window

is larger than the safe title area for the

corresponding display’s aspect ratio,

then this window will be completely

disregarded.

(f) Caption windows. (1) Decoders

need to display no more than 4 rows of

captions on the screen at any given

time, regardless of the number of

windows displayed. This implies that

no more than 4 windows can be

displayed at any given time (with each

having only one caption row). However,

decoders should maintain storage to

support a minimum total of 8 rows of

captions. This storage is needed for the

worst-case support of a displayed

window with 4 rows of captioning and

a non-displayed window which is

buffering the incoming rows for the next

4-row caption. As implied above, the

maximum number of windows that may

be displayed at any one time by a

minimum decoder implementation is 4.

If more than 4 windows are defined in

the caption stream, the decoder may

disregard the youngest and lowest

priority window definition(s). Caption

providers must be aware of this

limitation, and either restrict the total

number of windows used or accept that

some windows will not be displayed.

(2) Decoders do not need to support

overlapped windows. If a window

overlaps another window, the

overlapped window need not be

displayed by the decoder.

(3) At a minimum, decoders will

assume that all windows have rows and

columns ‘‘locked’’. This implies that if

a decoder implements the SMALL pensize, then word-‘‘un’’wrapping, when

shrinking captions, need not be

implemented. Also, if a decoder

implements the LARGE pen size, then

word wrapping (when enlarging

captions) need not be implemented.

(4) Whenever possible, the receiver

should render embedded carriage

returns as line breaks, since these

carriage returns indicate an important

aspect of the caption’s formatting as

determined by the service provider.

However, it may sometimes be

necessary for the receiver to ignore

embedded line breaks. For example, if a

caption is to appear in a larger font, and

if its window’s rows and/or columns are

unlocked, the rows of text may need to

become longer or shorter to fit within

the allocated space. Such automatic

reformatting of a caption is known as

‘‘word wrap.’’ If decoders support wordwrapping, it must be implemented as

follows:

(i) The receiver should follow

standard typographic practice when

implementing word wrap. Potential

breaking points (word-wrapping points)

are indicated by the space character

(20h) and by the hyphen character

(2Dh).

(ii) If a row is to be broken at a space,

the receiver should remove the space

from the caption display. If a row is to

be broken after a hyphen, the hyphen

should be retained.

(iii) If an embedded return is to be

removed, it should usually be replaced

with a space. However, if the character

to the left of the embedded return is a

58474 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

hyphen, the embedded return should be

removed but NOT replaced with a

space.

(iv) This specification does not

include optional hyphens, nor does it

provide for any form of automatic

hyphenation. No non-breaking hyphen

is defined. The non-breaking space (A0h

in the G1 code set) and the non-breaking

transparent space (21h in the G2 code

set) should not be considered as

potential line breaks.

(v) If a single word exceeds the length

of a row, the word should be placed at

the start of a new row, broken at the

character following the last character

that fits on the row, and continued with

further breaks if needed.

(g) Window text painting. (1) All

decoders should implement ‘‘left’’,

‘‘right’’, and ‘‘center’’ caption-text

justification. Implementation of ‘‘full’’

justification is optional. If ‘‘full’’

justification is not implemented, fully

justified captions should be treated as

though they are ‘‘left’’ justified.

(i) For ‘‘left’’ justification, decoders

should display any portion of a received

row of text when it is received. For

‘‘center’’, ‘‘right’’, and ‘‘full’’

justification, decoders may display any

portion of a received row of text when

it is received, or may delay display of

a received row of text until reception of

a row completion indicator. A row

completion indicator is defined as

receipt of a CR, ETX or any other

command, except SetPenColor,

SetPenAttributes, or SetPenLocation

where the pen relocation is within the

same row.

(ii) Receipt of a character for a

displayed row which already contains

text with ‘‘center’’, ‘‘right’’ or ‘‘full’’

justification will cause the row to be

cleared prior to the display of the newly

received character and any subsequent

characters. Receipt of a justification

command which changes the last

received justification for a given

window will cause the window to be

cleared.

(2) At a minimum, decoders must

support LEFT_TO_RIGHT printing.

(3) At a minimum, decoders must

support BOTTOM_TO_TOP scrolling.

For windows sharing the same

horizontal scan lines on the display,

scrolling may be disabled.

(4) At a minimum, decoders must

support the same recommended

practices for scroll rate as is provided

for NTSC closed-captioning.

(5) At a minimum, decoders must

support the same recommended

practices for smooth scrolling as is

provided for NTSC closed-captioning.

(6) At a minimum, decoders must

implement the ‘‘snap’’ window display

effect. If the window ‘‘fade’’ and ‘‘wipe’’

effects are not implemented, then the

decoder will ‘‘snap’’ all windows when

they are to be displayed, and the ‘‘effect

speed’’ parameter is ignored.

(h) Window colors and borders. At a

minimum, decoders must implement

borderless windows with solid, black

backgrounds (i.e., border type = NONE,

fill color = (0,0,0), fill opacity = SOLID),

and borderless transparent windows

(i.e., border type = NONE, fill opacity =

TRANSPARENT).

(i) Predefined window and pen styles.

Predefined Window Style and Pen Style

ID’s may be provided in the

DefineWindow command. At a

minimum, decoders should implement

Predefined Window Attribute Style 1

and Predefined Pen Attribute Style 1, as

shown in Table 4 and Table 5,

respectively.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 58475

TABLE 4.—PREDEFINED

WINDOW

STYLE ID’

S

Style ID # Justify Print direction Scroll direction Word wrap Display effect Effect direction Effect speed Fill color Fill opac- ity Border type Border color Usage

1 .................................................................................. Left ........... Left-to-right ... Bottom-to-top No .... Snap ........ n/a ............ n/a ......... (0,0,0)

Black.

Solid ...... None ..... n/a ......... NTSC Style

PopUp Captions

2 .................................................................................. Left ........... Left-to-right ... Bottom-to-top No .... Snap ........ n/a ............ n/a ......... n/a ............ Transparent. None ..... n/a ......... PopUp Cap- tions w/o

Black Background

3 .................................................................................. Cntr .......... Left-to-right ... Bottom-to-top No .... Snap ........ n/a ............ n/a ......... (0,0,0)

Black.

Solid ...... None ..... n/a ......... NTSC Style

CenteredPopUp Captions

4 .................................................................................. Left ........... Left-to-right ... Bottom-to-top Yes ... Snap ........ n/a ............ n/a ......... (0,0,0)

Black.

Solid ...... None ..... n/a ......... NTSC Style

RollUp Captions

5 .................................................................................. Left ........... Left-to-right ... Bottom-to-top Yes ... Snap ........ n/a ............ n/a ......... n/a ............ Transparent. None ..... n/a ......... RollUp Cap- tions w/o

Black Background

6 .................................................................................. Cntr .......... Left-to-right ... Bottom-to-top Yes ... Snap ........ n/a ............ n/a ......... (0,0,0)

Black.

Solid ...... None ..... n/a ......... NTSC Style

CenteredRollUp Captions

7 .................................................................................. Left ........... Top-to-bottom Right-to-left ... No .... Snap ........ n/a ............ n/a ......... (0,0,0)

Black.

Solid ...... None ..... n/a ......... Ticker Tape

TABLE 5.—PREDEFINED

PEN

STYLE ID’

S

Predefined style ID Pen size Font style Offset Italics Underline Edge type Foregrnd color Foregrnd opacity Backgrnd color Backgrnd opacity Edge color Usage

1 ............................................................................. Stndr ........ 0 .................... Normal .......... No .... No ............ None ........ (2,2,2)

White.

Solid ......... (0,0,0)

Black.

Solid ........... n/a ......... Default NTSC

Style*

2 ............................................................................. Stndr ........ 1 .................... Normal .......... No .... No ............ None ........ (2,2,2) .... Solid ......... (0,0,0)

White.

Solid ........... n/a ......... NTSC Style*

Mono w/Serif

3 ............................................................................. Stndr ........ 2 .................... Normal .......... No .... No ............ None ........ (2,2,2)

White.

Solid ......... (0,0,0)

Black.

Solid ........... n/a ......... NTSC Style*

Prop w/ Serif

4 ............................................................................. Stndr ........ 3 .................... Normal .......... No .... No ............ None ........ (2,2,2)

White.

Solid ......... (0,0,0)

Black.

Solid ........... n/a ......... NTSC Style*

Mono w/oSerif

5 ............................................................................. Stndr ........ 4 .................... Normal .......... No .... No ............ None ........ (2,2,2)

White.

Solid ......... (0,0,0)

Black.

Solid ........... n/a ......... NTSC Style*

Prop w/oSerif

6 ............................................................................. Stndr ........ 3 .................... Normal .......... No .... No ............ Unifrm ...... (2,2,2)

White.

Solid ......... n/a ......... Transparent (0,0,0)

Black.

Mono w/o Serif,

BorderedText, No BG

7 ............................................................................. Stndr ........ 4 .................... Normal .......... No .... No ............ Unifrm ...... (2,2,2)

White.

Solid ......... n/a ......... Transparent (0,0,0)

Black.

Prop. w/o Serif,

BorderedText, No BG

*‘‘NTSC Style’’—White Text on Black Background

58476 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

(j) Pen size. (1) Decoders must support

the standard, large, and small pen sizes

and must allow the caption provider to

choose a pen size and allow the viewer

to choose an alternative size. The

STANDARD pen size should be

implemented such that the height of the

tallest character in any implemented

font is no taller than 1⁄15 of the height

of the safe-title area, and the width of

the widest character is no wider than

1⁄32 of the width of the safe-title area for

4:3 displays and 1⁄42 of the safe-title area

width for 16:9 displays.

(2) The LARGE pen size should be

implemented such that the width of the

widest character in any implemented

font is no wider than 1⁄32 of the safe-title

area for 16:9 displays. This

recommendation allows for captions to

grow to a LARGE pen size without

having to reformat the caption since no

caption will have more than 32

characters per row.

(k) Font styles. (1) Decoders must

support the eight fonts listed below.

Caption providers may specify 1 of

these 8 font styles to be used to write

caption text. The styles specified in the

‘‘font style’’ parameter of the

SetPenAttributes command are

numbered from 0 through 7. The

following is a list of the 8 required font

styles. For information purposes only,

each font style references one or more

popular fonts which embody the

characteristics of the style:

(i) 0—Default (undefined)

(ii) 1—Monospaced with serifs (similar

to Courier)

(iii) 2—Proportionally spaced with

serifs (similar to Times New Roman)

(iv) 3—Monospaced without serifs

(similar to Helvetica Monospaced)

(v) 4—Proportionally spaced without

serifs (similar to Arial and Swiss)

(vi) 5—Casual font type (similar to Dom

and Impress)

(vii) 6—Cursive font type (similar to

Coronet and Marigold)

(viii) 7—Small capitals (similar to

Engravers Gothic)

(2) Font styles may be implemented in

any typeface which the decoder

manufacturer deems to be a readable

rendition of the font style, and need not

be in the exact typefaces given in the

example above. Decoders must include

the ability for consumers to choose

among the eight fonts. The decoder

must display the font chosen by the

caption provider unless the viewer

chooses a different font.

(l) Character offsetting. Decoders need

not implement the character offsetting

(i.e., subscript and superscript) pen

attributes.

(m) Pen styles. At a minimum,

decoders must implement normal, italic,

and underline pen styles.

(n) Foreground color and opacity. (1)

At a minimum, decoders must

implement transparent, translucent,

solid and flashing character foreground

type attributes.

(2) At a minimum, decoders must

implement the following character

foreground colors: white, black, red,

green, blue, yellow, magenta and cyan.

(3) Caption providers may specify the

color/opacity. Decoders must include

the ability for consumers to choose

among the color/opacity options. The

decoder must display the color/opacity

chosen by the caption provider unless

the viewer chooses otherwise.

(o) Background color and opacity. (1)

Decoders must implement the following

background colors: white, black, red,

green, blue, yellow, magenta and cyan.

It is recommended that this background

is extended beyond the character

foreground to a degree that the

foreground is separated from the

underlying video by a sufficient number

of background pixels to insure the

foreground is separated from the

background.

(2) Decoders must implement

transparent, translucent, solid and

flashing background type attributes.

Caption providers may specify the

color/opacity. Decoders must include

the ability for consumers to choose

among the color/opacity options. The

decoder must display the color/opacity

chosen by the caption provider unless

the viewer chooses otherwise.

(p) Character edges. Decoders must

implement separate edge color and type

attribute control.

(q) Color representation. (1) At a

minimum, decoders must support the 8

colors listed in Table 6.

TABLE 6.—MINIMUM COLOR LIST

TABLE

Color Red Green Blue

Black ................. 0 0 0

White ................. 2 2 2

Red ................... 2 0 0

Green ................ 0 2 0

Blue ................... 0 0 2

Yellow ............... 2 2 0

Magenta ............ 2 0 2

Cyan ................. 0 2 2

(2)(i) When a decoder supporting this

Minimum Color List receives an RGB

value not in the list, it will map the

received value to one of the values in

the list via the following algorithm:

(A) All one (1) values are to be

changed to 0.

(B) All two (2) values are to remain

unchanged.

(C) All three (3) values are to be

changed to 2.

(ii) For example, the RGB value (1,2,3)

will be mapped to (0,2,2), (3,3,3) will be

mapped to (2,2,2) and (1,1,1) will be

mapped to (0,0,0).

(3) Table 7 is an alternative minimum

color list table supporting 22 colors.

TABLE 7.—ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM

COLOR LIST TABLE

Color Red Green Blue

Black ................. 0 0 0

Gray .................. 1 1 1

White ................. 2 2 2

Bright White ...... 3 3 3

Dark Red .......... 1 0 0

Red ................... 2 0 0

Bright Red ......... 3 0 0

Dark Green ....... 0 1 0

Green ................ 0 2 0

Bright Green ..... 0 3 0

Dark Blue .......... 0 0 1

Blue ................... 0 0 2

Bright Blue ........ 0 0 3

Dark Yellow ...... 1 1 0

Yellow ............... 2 2 0

Bright Yellow ..... 3 3 0

Dark Magenta ... 1 0 1

Magenta ............ 2 0 2

Bright Magenta 3 0 3

Dark Cyan ......... 0 1 1

Cyan ................. 0 2 2

Bright Cyan ....... 0 3 3

(i) When a decoder supporting the

Alternative Minimum Color List in

Table 7 receives an RGB value not in the

list (i.e., an RGB value whose non-zero

elements are not the same value), it will

map the received value to one of the

values in the list via the following

algorithm:

(A) For RGB values with all elements

non-zero and different—e.g., (1,2,3),

(3,2,1), and (2,1,3), the 1 value will be

changed to 0, the 2 value will remain

unchanged, and the 3 value will be

changed to 2.

(B) For RGB values with all elements

non-zero and with two common

elements—e.g. (3,1,3), (2,1,2), and

(2,2,3), if the common elements are 3

and the uncommon one is 1, then the 1

elements is changed to 0; e.g. (3,1,3) ‰

(3,0,3). If the common elements are 1

and the uncommon element is 3, then

the 1 elements are changed to 0, and the

3 element is changed to 2; e.g. (1,3,1) ‰

(0,2,0). In all other cases, the uncommon

element is changed to the common

value; e.g., (2,2,3) ‰ (2,2,2), (1,2,1) ‰

(1,1,1), and (3,2,3) ‰ (3,3,3).

(ii) All decoders not supporting either

one of the two color lists described

above, must support the full 64 possible

RGB color value combinations.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 190 / Friday, September 29, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 58477

(r) Character rendition considerations.

In NTSC Closed Captioning, decoders

were required to insert leading and

trailing spaces on each caption row.

There were two reasons for this

requirement:

(1) To provide a buffer so that the first

and last characters of a caption row do

not fall outside the safe title area, and

(2) To provide a black border on each

side of a character so that the ‘‘white’’

leading pixels of the first character on

a row and the trailing ‘‘white’’ pixels of

the last character on a row do not bleed

into the underlying video.

(i) Since caption windows are

required to reside in the safe title area

of the DTV screen, reason 1 (above) is

not applicable to DTVCC captions.

(ii) The attributes available in the

SetPenAttributes command for character

rendition (e.g., character background

and edge attributes) provide unlimited

flexibility to the caption provider when

describing caption text in an ideal

decoder implementation. However,

manufacturers need not implement all

pen attributes. Thus it is recommended

that no matter what the level of

implementation, decoder manufacturers

should take into account the readability

of all caption text against a variety of all

video backgrounds, and should

implement some automatic character

delineation when the individual control

of character foreground, background and

edge is not supported.

(s) Service synchronization. Service

Input Buffers must be at least 128 bytes

in size. Caption providers must keep

this lower limit in mind when following

Delay commands with other commands

and window text. In other words, no

more than 128 bytes of DTVCC

commands and text should be

transmitted (encoded) before a pending

Delay command’s delay interval expires.

(t) Settings. Decoders must include an

option that permits a viewer to choose

a setting that will display captions as

intended by the caption provider (a

default). Decoders must also include an

option that allows a viewer’s chosen

settings to remain until the viewer

chooses to alter these settings, including

periods when the television is turned

off.

PART 79—CLOSED CAPTIONING OF

VIDEO PROGRAMMING

1. The authority citation for part 79

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 613.

2. Section 79.1 is amended by revising

paragraphs (a)(4) and (c) to read as

follows:

§ 79.1 Closed captionng of video

programming.

(a) * * *

(1) Closed captioning. The visual

display of the audio portion of video

programming pursuant to the technical

specifications set forth in part 15 of this

chapter.

* * * * *

(c) Obligation to pass through

captions of already captioned programs.

All video programming distributors

shall deliver all programming received

from the video programming owner or

other origination source containing

closed captioning to receiving television

households with the original closed

captioning data intact in a format that

can be recovered and displayed by

decoders meeting the standards of part

15 of this chapter unless such

programming is recaptioned or the

captions are reformatted by the

programming distributor.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 00–24649 Filed 9–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 20

[PR Docket No. 94–54; FCC 00–251]

Interconnection and Resale

Obligations Pertaining to Commercial

Mobile Radio Services

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The Federal Communications

Commission (the Commission)

previously required certain providers of

Commercial Mobile Radio Services

(CMRS) to provide ‘‘manual’’ roaming

service upon reasonable request to any

subscriber. In this document, the

Commission modifies the scope of the

‘‘manual’’ roaming rule to apply only to

CMRS providers that offer real-time

two-way switched voice or data service

that is interconnected with the public

switched network using an in-network

switching facility. Additionally, the

Commission revises the scope to extend

to cellular and broadband PCS

providers. Also, the Commission

extends the rule to cover data-only

services as well as voice services.

Finally, the Commission terminates its

consideration in this docket of issues

relating to ‘‘automatic’’ roaming and the

potential sunset of the ‘‘manual’’

roaming rule.

DATES: Effective November 28, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

further information, contact Paul

Murray, Wireless Telecommunications

Bureau, at (202) 418–0688; additional

information concerning the information

collections contained in this document

contact Judy Boley at (202) 418–0214, or

via the Internet at jboley@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

Memorandum Opinion & Order (MO&O)

in PR Docket No. 93–144, adopted

August 2, 2000, and released August 4,

2000, is available for inspection and

copying during normal business hours

in the FCC Reference Center, 445

Twelfth Street, SW., Washington DC.

The complete text may be purchased

from the Commission’s copy contractor,

International Transcription Service,

Inc., 1231 20th Street, NW., Washington

DC 20036 (202) 857–3800.

Synopsis of Memorandum Opinion and

Order

I. Introduction

1. Roaming occurs when the

subscriber of one CMRS provider

utilizes the facilities of another CMRS

provider with which the subscriber has

no direct pre-existing service or

financial relationship to place an

outgoing call, to receive an incoming

call, or to continue an in-progress call.

Roaming service can be provided

through a variety of technical and

contractual arrangements.

2. In 1996, we determined in the

Second Report and Order and Third

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

(‘‘Second Report and Order’’), 11 FCC

Rcd 9462 (1996), published 61 FR 44026

(Aug. 27, 1996), that the availability of

roaming on broadband wireless

networks was important to the

development of nationwide, ubiquitous,

and competitive wireless voice

telecommunications, and that market

forces alone might not be sufficient to

cause roaming to become widely

available during the period in which

systems to provide these services were

being built. Accordingly, we ordered

that our then-existing ‘‘manual’’

roaming rule requiring cellular carriers

to serve individual roamers, 47 CFR

22.901, be extended to include other

CMRS providers, both broadband PCS

and ‘‘covered’’ SMR, that offer

comparable competitive telephony

services so long as the roamer’s handset

is technically capable of accessing their

services.

II. Summary of the Memorandum

Opinion and Order on Reconsideration

3. In this order we consider three

petitions for reconsideration and/or

clarification of the ‘‘manual’’ roaming