The PK in the Know podcast has been off for the past few weeks so that we could make technical changes to the back end.  This will result in a better feed, but  unfortunately it also means that the feeds have changed.  Please update your feeds by clicking here to subscribe via iTunes, and clicking here to subscribe via other readers.

But now, on to this week's podcast!

One of the benefits of the FCC's often-laborious process of rulemaking is that it allows new issues to be discovered and resolved. This is what has happened in the Commission's proceeding on a seemingly-arcane issue: "encryption of the basic tier."

This week the tech world will descend on Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show.  While there is nothing subtle about a 152-inch 3D plasma TV there are plenty of subtle forces coming from DC that shape what you see at shows like CES and at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy.  Here are just four examples.

AllVid or Why Can’t Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku, and Boxee Boxes Get Cable Channels?

For many years, consumers were able to save some money on their cable bills by simply subscribing to a basic tier of programming.  For additional programming, subscribers had to pay for a set-top box provided by the cable company.  This worked fine when cable companies transmitted the programming in an analog format.  But times, and technology, are changing.  Now even the basic tier, like the more expensive ones, is going digital, and that means consumers will have to pay for a box even if they didn't have one before.  In response to these events, the Federal Communications Commission proposed a new rule.  Public Knowledge applauds the FCC for proposing the rule in response to digital cable technology and protecting subscribers from being hit too hard as a result of the digital transition. 

Public Knowledge’s Position

In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress told the FCC to increase competition in video devices—consumer electronics that can display and interact with pay TV content. That competition is still missing.

A consumer should be able to attach any non-harmful device to a cable network and access the programming that they are paying for. After all, when cable was analog you could simply plug your TV directly into cable.

This ability should apply to more than just “cable,” however—today, satellite TV is more popular than ever, and Verizon and AT&T offer subscription TV services that aren’t strictly “cable” (The FCC calls these MVPDs, or “Multichannel Video Programming Distributors”).

Usually, routine letters to the FCC from industry players, asking it to take some action or pleading with it not to, don’t get much coverage. But the tech press has picked up on an amazingly overheated letter (PDF link) from the NCTA (cable’s trade association), where it claims that AllVid (which we’ve written about on the blog many times) would turn cable systems into nothing but “wholesalers,” and that allowing users a choice of user interfaces with which to view their content would throw their businesses into disarray.

Net neutrality means that consumers have the right to use lawful applications and devices on their broadband connections.  With its secret blocking of BitTorrent, Comcast has shown that it doesn't think much of application freedom. Today, as a complaint by Zoom Telephonics to the FCC spells out, it's clear that Comcast doesn't think very highly of device freedom, either. (Here’s a link to a PDF of the complaint.)

In this week's podcast, we talk about TV networks fighting to keep the Internet off of your TV, tiered pricing on mobile data networks, the latest in SMS statistics, and interview the guys from MakerBeam, an erector set for the Internet age.

You can download and listen to the audio by clicking here (MP3) or stream it using the player below:

Want to subscribe to our podcast? Click here for the MP3 feed and here for the mixed audio/video feed.

Too busy last week to follow the ins and outs of technology and telecom policy? Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. Here are last week’s highlights.

Public Knowledge hosted its seventh annual IP3 Awards. As one reporter put it, “scads of technology and telecommunications professionals gathered on Capitol Hill” for the event. This year, we had four winners: Pamela Samuelson for her work in Information Policy, Susan Crawford for Internet Protocol, Michael Geist for Intellectual Property, and Nina Paley also for Intellectual Property.