Ontario V-chip maker wants faster roll out of gatekeeper technology in Canada

Executives of a Scarborough ON company are anxious to begin selling their V-chip systems in Canada, but first they need broadcasters to develop an encoded rating system for the technology. V.gis Technologies Ltd president Najmul Siddiqui, whose company markets external V-chip systems, met with CRTC officials at the beginning of April to talk about progress on V-chip rules, and the urgency of having broadcasters move quickly on this issue. V.gis Technologies, which manufactures TV converters, pick-and-pay addressable TV systems, and high-speed modems, already sells the external V-chip systems in the U.S., where V-chips are now being installed in new TVs. Its V-chip device, which connects to the input cable, includes a pin number and security system so kids can't remove it. The device will sell in Canada for about $100. But getting the technology introduced in Canada has taken longer than expected. The technology is ready for deployment, but without a broadcaster-developed rating system, the V-chip is useless. Cam Siddiqui, VP marketing and engineering at V.gis, says he wants Canadian broadcasters and regulators to move faster on V-chip deployment. "It is a simple process to encode the ratings so they can be read by the V-chip," Siddiqui told CCR. "We would like to start selling these systems this year, but we've been held up because a rating system has not been implemented in Canada by the key broadcasters. We hope they deal with this right away because the U.S. is about three years ahead of us on this." The CRTC has handed the issue to the Action Group on Violence on Television (AGVOT), made up of industry representatives, including the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Canadian Cable Television Association, the CBC, specialty services, pay-TV and pay-per-view services, the Association of Canadian Advertisers, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, and the Association des producteurs de film et de television de Quebec. In 1997, AGVOT warned the CRTC that there are still technical difficulties with the V-chip encoding system. Among the problems: encoding software cannot properly react to schedule changes; reliable transmission of encoding data for promotional materials and movie advertisements is not currently possible; and older compression and scrambling technology affects the ability of some programming services to be encoded. As well, the AGVOT group said there are still too many ratings systems to be accommodated by V-chip devices that will be incorporated into television sets. At the time, the group offered the new ratings display logos as an alternative to the V-chip. Still, the CRTC expects the implementation of encoding and deployment of V-chip devices to occur as soon as is feasible and wants AGVOT to inform it, on a regular basis, concerning the industry's progress regarding the V-chip. A CRTC official told CCR that the AGVOT group is still working on the V-chip implementation plan. V-chip arrived in U.S. in January The V-chip was invented by Tim Collings, a professor at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University, who successfully lobbied U.S. bureaucrats and politicians for mandatory V-chip rules. Instead of mandating a ratings system, the U.S. Congress gave the TV industry a year to come up with its own ratings system that would work with the V-chip. As of Jan. 1, 2000, all new sets with screens 13" or greater have a V-chip. Still, there have been problems in the U.S. with the technology's roll out. While many programmers had rated their shows, they hadn't encoded the information that was necessary for the V-chip to work. Deployment of the V-chip also lags behind in Britain, where the BBC, like Canadian broadcasters, has made 9 p.m. the "watershed" point after which violence unsuitable for children can be aired.

Ontario V-chip maker wants faster roll out of gatekeeper technology in Canada

Broadcast | April 13, 2000

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