By Diane Bartz
WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - An appeals court struck down
a rule on Tuesday that had been issued by the U.S.
telecommunications regulator to allow customers to watch cable
and satellite TV on "plug and play" televisions, replacing set
top boxes.
Satellite TV company Dish Network Corp objected to
the rule because it included prescriptions on encrypting
programming that prevented Dish and others from, for example,
making deals with studios to play new movies on a pay-per-view
basis.
At the request of Dish, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit struck down the rule issued by the
Federal Communications Commission in 2003 that had been drafted
by the cable companies.
The FCC rule - called the "plug and play" order - set
standards that allowed customers to buy televisions that could
plug into cable and satellite networks without using a set top
box.
In its objection, Dish argued that the FCC lacked authority
to impose the standards on satellite providers. The court
agreed.
The FCC said it was reviewing the ruling.
The case is EchoStar Satellite LLC v. Federal Communications
Commission, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, No.
04-1033.
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