Last week, SiliconDust, the makers of the HDHomeRun, met with the FCC to discuss ongoing concerns over the encryption of over-the-air broadcasts in the U.S. We know this meeting happened because FCC rules require a public filing summarizing the conversation—and that document reveals a lot. It offers new insight into the challenges SiliconDust has faced, including what appears to be selective regulation by the broadcast industry, and some possible paths forward.
I take a deep-dive into their filing in my latest video.
At the heart of this issue is the use of digital rights management, or DRM, to encrypt ATSC 3.0 signals—something that wasn’t present in the older ATSC 1.0 standard. SiliconDust argues that encrypting these broadcasts violates the spirit, if not the letter of the law in regards to public access to the airwaves. They also point out that the rules governing access to the encrypted content are deliberately opaque. Device makers like SiliconDust are under NDA and can’t publicly explain how the system works or how they comply with it. That kind of secrecy runs counter to how the FCC has typically operated—where rulemaking is transparent and compliance information is available to the public.
SiliconDust has gone through the expensive process of getting NextGen TV certification for their device. That’s one of two certifications needed to access encrypted signals. The other is DRM certification through A3SA, the private industry group managing the encryption scheme. They had initially pursued a different DRM method—DTCP—but the A3SA changed course, which forced SiliconDust to pivot midstream. This shifting landscape has created additional costs and delays, which helps explain why so few tuners for ATSC 3.0 are available and why they’re priced well above what consumers might expect.
Silicondust isn’t new to managing protected content. Years ago, they developed the HDHomeRun Prime, which worked with cable providers to decrypt scrambled digital signals. That product functioned reliably for years and helped many consumers avoid renting costly cable boxes. So, SiliconDust already has experience building secure systems that work within industry requirements.
They even tried to partner with LG to bring ATSC 3.0 access to older LG TVs via an app and an HDHomeRun device. This would have allowed millions of LG customers to access the new broadcast standard without upgrading their hardware. LG was a co-developer of the ATSC 3.0 spec, yet their joint proposal was rejected by the A3SA. That decision blocked a cost-effective solution that could have helped speed up adoption.
There are also examples of what appears to be selective treatment between SiliconDust and competitors. ZapperBox, another ATSC 3.0 tuner, has been promoted at trade shows and in press materials, despite lacking NextGenTV certification. SiliconDust, which has both DRM and NextGen certifications, has been left out.
SiliconDust isn’t just voicing complaints. They came to the FCC meeting with proposed solutions. The simplest, they say, is to eliminate DRM from public broadcasts altogether, which would remove the need for expensive certification and open up the market to more affordable devices. That certification process might explain why inexpensive TVs at retailers like Walmart don’t include ATSC 3.0 tuners—the added cost pushes them out of the low-margin price range.
Another option is to model DRM implementation after streaming services like Netflix, which encrypt streams using widely supported methods. But the current ATSC 3.0 DRM system goes further, layering additional restrictions on top of Google’s Widevine which is what the broadcasters chose for encryption.
But Widevine is only one of several DRM standards. Apple devices use FairPlay. Microsoft Xboxes and PCs use PlayReady. Netflix supports all three by tailoring the stream to the device.
Netflix can do this because they provide a unique stream to every viewer. Broadcasters, working with limited over the air bandwidth, do not have the flexibility to deliver three separate streams of the same content.
Although A3SA had promised broad device compatibility over a year ago, but only Android devices, which are owned by Google and support Widevine natively, have proven to work. Apple, Roku, WebOS, and others remain unsupported. That’s a significant problem for a broadcast standard that’s supposed to be universally accessible.
Another issue is that the DRM standard is not actually part of the official ATSC 3.0 spec, nor is it regulated by the FCC. That means A3SA—a private organization with just five members—can change the rules at any time. They can add new restrictions or limit access based on brand. That kind of unchecked authority over access to public broadcasts raises valid concerns.
The FCC doesn’t hold public hearings on this issue. Instead, they’re conducting private meetings like this one to gather information. It was the National Association of Broadcasters that initiated this push for a hard transition from ATSC 1.0 to 3.0. But adoption has been slow, partly because DRM has made devices more expensive and difficult to develop. Over the coming weeks, more meetings and filings like this one will likely surface, possibly followed by a draft order outlining the FCC’s next steps.
Even though the public comment period has closed, it’s still possible to file additional thoughts with the FCC. Here’s a link with instructions where you can do that if you feel the need to respond to other filings. I’ll continue following the story and keeping you updated.