SiliconDust, the company behind the HDHomeRun tuner line, has asked commercial TV broadcasters running NextGen TV signals to switch off their encryption for a week around next month's national Emergency Alert System test, and it has put that request on the record at the FCC.
In a letter filed with the Commission, the company said it worries that digital rights management (DRM) encryption on ATSC 3.0 signals could keep some viewers from receiving EAS messages during the national test scheduled for November 17. According to the letter, SiliconDust asked stations to disable encryption starting November 10 and leave it off for one week.
SiliconDust President Nicholas Kelsey contacted broadcasters by email earlier this month, the filing says. TEGNA, which recently began encrypting its network-affiliated NextGen TV signals, was among them. "The emails asked stations to disable DRM encryption for the EAS test, requested confirmation whether they would do so, and offered assistance with confirming reception," Kelsey wrote. The filing did not make clear whether any broadcaster agreed.
The company's interest is direct. Its NextGen TV tuner cannot decode encrypted channels because the body that certifies receivers for protected ATSC 3.0 content has not approved its hardware. Kelsey said the letters were filed to document SiliconDust's outreach, and the company plans to monitor both encrypted and unencrypted NextGen TV signals during the test and report what it finds to the FCC.
Broadcasters have defended encryption as a response to rights holders, including professional sports leagues, that want their content protected. They say it lets them shut off tuners and boxes tied to piracy by revoking certificates over the air or online. Critics counter that the piracy threat is overstated and that encryption gives broadcasters leverage to favor some equipment makers over others.
Stations airing ATSC 3.0 signals may want to review how alerts reach viewers on their encrypted services ahead of November 17, since the results of this test could land in the FCC record.