A modified version of Apple’s venerable Firewire technology, now the IEEE-1394 standard, has been adopted as a baseline specification for digital television receivers and set-top boxes. The early 1999 release of next-generation DTV sets had apparently been threatened by the absence of such a spec, to the extent that the US Federal Communications Commission called on the National Cable Television Association and Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association to reach an accord by November 1, or else. Only a day or two late, the groups have reported that the necessary extensions to Firewire are complete. Even so, the lack of some copyright protection mechanism makes it appear unlikely that Firewire-enabled DTV equipment will be available before November 1999. In turn, that’s likely to impede the amount of content available through digital channels. Film studios have reportedly expressed unwillingness to release films to DTV until such copyright protections are in place.
