The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has responded to a group of consumer electronics (CE) companies that claimed recently that a Downloadable Conditional Access System (DCAS) under development by the cable industry is infeasible.

The U.S. cable industry is proposing DCAS as a replacement for the CableCARD as a method of removable security for digital cable services (for more on this subject, please see an article that appeared in the February issue of CED).

Earlier this year, the Consumer Electronics Association, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Intel, ATI and Sony filed comments alleging that DCAS was infeasible due to what they believed to be incompatibility with personal computers, and cited a purported lack of commitment by the cable industry.

In a filing issued to the Federal Communications Commission, U.S. cable's top lobbying group said "this portrayal is inaccurate on both counts."

On the personal computer issue, NCTA wrote that "the cable industry has no commercial interest in excluding PCs from receiving cable service given the formidable competitive environment we face for obtaining and retaining subscribers."

On that point, NCTA noted that CableLabs recently approved the Microsoft Corp. Windows Media DRM to enable a PC to receive high-definition premium cable programming without the need for a separate set-top. Those PCs will leverage what is being called an OpenCable Unidirectional Receiver (OCUR).

NCTA also noted that Samsung and LG Electronics have already signed DCAS licenses with CableLabs.