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OTT - Emergency Alert System (EAS) and VideoICA's Conference for Video Providers

Robert Saunders, CEOSkitter, Inc.

2First to Offer OTA Channels via OTT - 2009

2009 2014RokuWD Live TV

2015 An IPTV Experience for OTTGigaom (April 9, 2012)New Yorks Aereo is getting some competition in its quest to bring live TV online: Atlanta-based Skitter is launching a new service that streams TV stations like NBC, ABC and CBS straight to a Roku or WD Live set-top box. But unlike Aereo, which is currently duking it out with broadcasters in court, Skitter is launching its service with all necessary licenses.3Watch out, Aereo: Skitter brings live TV to RokuMultichannel News (May 10, 2012)Portland Broadcast Affiliates Pull Signals From Skitter TVThe ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC broadcast affiliates in Portland, Ore., have told Internet TV venture Skitter to stop distributing their network feeds as they "review our retransmission agreements," according to a notice the startup sent to subscribers.

4Cable Carriage of Broadcast StationsDigital must-carry is the requirement that cable companies carry either the analog, over a hybrid analog/digital cable system, or digital (over a digital-only pay television system like AT&T U-verse or Verizon FiOS) signal. They must still meet the every-subscriber/television receiver laws, i.e. "Pursuant to Section 614(b)(7) and 615(h), the operator of a cable system is required to ensure that signals carried in fulfillment of the must-carry requirements are provided to EVERY subscriber of the system, of local stations.

The Communications Act prohibits Cable TV Operators and other multichannel video programming distributors from retransmitting commercial television, low power television and radio broadcast signals without first obtaining the broadcaster's consent.

Sources: FCC .gov Cable Carriage, WikipediaSection 111 of the Copyright Act of 1976, title 17 of the United States Code, established a compulsory licensing system under which cable systems may make secondary transmissions of copyrighted works. The license prescribes various conditions under which cable systems may obtain a compulsory license to retransmit copyrighted works, including the filing of statements of account forms.5Statutory License for Secondary Transmissions by Cable SystemsSources: Copyright.govCable TV systems can get compulsory copyright licenses for the channels they rebroadcast, meaning they don't have to seek individual permission for every copyrighted piece of content. Compulsory license fees are paid to the Copyright Office and are generally considered inexpensive, according to media lawyers. Cable systems then typically pay broadcasters for the right to broadcast their feeds through negotiated retransmission-consent agreements.

6Copyright Office Compulsory Copyright LicenseSource: Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2014 Copyright Offices reply to Aereos request to pay the copyright fee: "In the view of the Copyright Office, Internet retransmissions of broadcast television fall outside the scope of the Section 111 license.

Other online video services have tried the compulsory-license argument before, without success. FilmOn.com Inc. and Ivi Inc., two other online television streaming startups, argued in their defenses when they were sued in 2010 for streaming broadcast content without permission that they should qualify for the compulsory copyright license available to cable systems. Ivi lost and shut down, while FilmOn, which serves and array of on-demand and live content, decided to settle and develop new technology.7OTT Denied Compulsory Re-tranmission ConsentSource: Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2014 Section 338(a)(1) of the Communications Act, adopted as part of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999 (SHVIA), provides that after December 31, 2001: each satellite carrier providing [television broadcast signals under the compulsory copyright licensing system] to subscribers located within the local market of a television broadcast station of a primary transmission made by that station shall carry upon request the signals of all television broadcast stations located within that local market, subject to section 325(b) [retransmission consent requirement].

8It Took an Act of CongressSource: federalregister.gov, Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999To Carry OTA TV Channels You Must Be a Cable TV System!9The Emergency Alert System is a national public warning system that requires TV and radio broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, satellite digital audio radio service providers, direct broadcast satellite service providers and wireline video service providers to offer to the President the communications capability to address the American public during a national emergency. The system also may be used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information such as AMBER (missing children) alerts and emergency weather information targeted to a specific area.10FCC - Emergency Alert System (EAS)Source: FCC.gov11EAS Alert OriginationHomeland Security EAS System

PresidentHomeland SecurityFEMAStateLocal12EAS Delivery OperationICAPInternet

FMAMNOAA

FM, AM NOAA Antenna

For Local EAS Reception

Internet ConnectionSkitter Critical EAS ServerCAP - IPAWS13Skitter Critical EAS Delivery Methods

Communication to MiddlewareMulticast MPEG4-AVC for IPTVUnicast HLS MPEG4-AVC for OTT14Determining Who Should Receive EASAmerican National Standards Institute/Federal Information Processing Standards (ANSI/FIPS)American National Standards Institute codes (ANSI codes) are standardized numeric or alphabetic codes issued by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to ensure uniform identification of geographic entities through all federal government agencies. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has taken over the management of geographic codes from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Under NIST, the codes adhered to the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS).

Codes are available for states, counties, places, county subdivisions and other entity types.FIPS Code - 019153Subdivision Code - 0, State Code - 19, Polk County Iowa 153, The IPAWS Open Platforms for EmergencyNetworks (IPAWS-OPEN) collects Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) alerts issued by authorized public officials and distributes them to EAS participants via an EAS CAP feed. The EAS CAP feed is available on the internet and EAS participants require an internet connection to poll IPAWS-OPEN. In addition, EAS participants may poll state CAP servers or other CAP-based networks via the internet where appropriate.CAP alerts may carry rich information such as audio, video, geographical-location data, etc., that EAS participants may opt to use for supplemental information to provide to their audiencesDuring January 2012, the FCC announced itsFifth Report and Orderto clarify FCC rules relating to CAP implementation. Among the provisions is a new requirement for EAS participants EAS equipment to interface with IPAWS to enable the distribution of CAP-formatted alert messages from the IPAWS system.15Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)Video streams are delivered from the Skitter/ INS Head-Endad via the Internet.The local Telco's subscriber connects to the Skitter cache appliance located on the Telco's network.Only one stream per channel watched is delivered to the cacheThe caching appliance replicates the streams for each subscriber.A local EAS receiver injects HLS formatted EAS messages to the local Internet 16INS Member Content and EAS DeliveryInternet

Telco Local InternetVideo CacheEAS

17Example EAS Message

PEG Channels:Pursuant to Section 611 of the Communications Act, local franchising authorities may require cable operators to set aside channels for public, educational, or governmental ("PEG") use.Public, educational, and government access television, (also PEG-TV, PEG channel, PEGA, Local-access television) refers to three different cable television narrowcasting and specialty channels.Closed Captioning:The Telecommunications Act of 1996 established closed captioning requirements for video programming distributors. As of January 1, 2006, 100% of all new, non-exempt, English language video programming must have closed captions. New means programming that is shown for the first time on or after January 1, 1998. The CALM Act:FCC rules require TV stations, cable operators, satellite TV operators and other pay TV providers to ensure television commercial advertisements have the same average volume as the programs that they accompany, in accordance with the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act.18Other Cable TV Compliance Issues for OTTRobert Saunders, CEOSkitter, Inc.

Email:Robert@Skitter.TVOffice:(678)894-880719Contact Information