Former chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal to revamp set-tops is no longer on the Federal Communications Commission's list of items on circulation to be voted by the other commissioners.

Top House Republicans had asked him to close the book on the proposal, which he and they had opposed. Neither Pai nor fellow Republican Michael O'Rielly were likely to vote on it anyway, but the move makes it official that it is no longer in front of any of the commissioners for a decision.

The Motion Picture Association of America, which had opposed the plan over concerns with the impact on copyrights of inserting a standards body into an MVPD-supplied app approach to creating competition in video navigation, was pleased.

READ MORE:About the FCC's set-top box policy making.

"The MPAA applauds FCC chairman Pai’s decision to pull the set-top box proposal from circulation,” MPAA chairman Sen.Chris Dodd said in a statement. “As the creative community has made clear from the start, we support competition within the set-top box market, but not at the expense of copyright policy or the livelihoods of millions of American creators. We are grateful for the support from more than 200 Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, senior leaders of various government agencies, civil rights and free market organizations, and virtually the entire creative community, including majors and independents, music groups, advocacy organizations, and unions and guilds that collectively represent hundreds of thousands of creative professionals. We are proud to be joined by so many in standing up for copyright and the rights of creators.”

Wheeler proposed requiring MVPDs to make data and program info available to third parties -- devices, then apps -- allow a better co-mingling of traditional and online video. But there was pushback from Republicans and Democrats over issues of copyright protection and the FCC's role in approving an app-based approach to accessing the MVPD content, so Wheeler could not get three votes for the item before time ran out on his tenure, though it still remained on circulation for a vote.

Get complete coverage of the FCC's set-top proposal.

Comcast, which has already slammed the FCC’s proposed set-top rules, took another swipe at them in a recent meeting with commission staffers that expanded on the MSO’s (and the cable industry’s) argument that using an apps-based approach is the best way forward.

For starters, Comcast argued in an ex parte filed May 11 that the software code it uses to manage requests for programming and data between its set-top boxes and authenticated Xfinity TV apps and where the programming is cached on the network will likewise need to be supported on third-party video devices using an app.

Comcast told the commission that “running our network code directly on third-party devices without our application was not feasible for a variety of reasons,” noting that that MVPDs use different network infrastructures and that the code that one MVPD develops for this purpose differs from the code developed by other MSOs.

Additionally, Comcast argued that code “is regularly updated to accommodate network and service changes, and corresponding changes would be required in the third-party device (or app); and that programmers and content owners require a trusted execution environment as a key element of a strong content security and content presentation regimen.”

Comcast also said its IP cable service is delivered on a unified,  cloud-to-ground, unicast basis and that the code in its app uses network management tools ensure efficient use of bandwidth -- something that, Comcast claims, would be lost under the FCC’s proposal.

Comcast also raised concerns about how programming “entitlements” (marketing and business rules)  could be impacted by the proposed rules, noting that Comcast and other MVPDs do not deliver entitlements in a standardized way, meaning that the FCC’s rules would require “significant changes” to entitlement servers and other pieces of MVPD networks.

The MSO also touted its new Xfinity TV Partner Program for retail devices, with initial work involving Roku and Samsung, explaining that it relies on HTML5 with premium media extensions  --  calling it a “widely adopted” open standard.

Comcast also attempted to address an issue raised by TiVo and others that an apps-based approach would constrain the use third-party user interfaces. Comcast countered that retail partners would still be free to develop and use their own UIs because Comcast’s HTML5-based apps would appear as an element in their  “umbrella” user interfaces alongside other apps.

Those arguments appear to have had little sway on FCC chairman Tom Wheeler.

The proposal “has gotta be done. And that’s the road we are headed down,” Wheeler said in late April. As for Comcast’s new program, Wheeler said it “is proving our point that you can take a third-party device, put set-top box functionality into it, and protect copyright and the economic ecosystem.”

The FCC’s ban on integrated security set-tops ended last December,  and the impact of it continues to be seen in the latest batch of CableCARD deployment figures to emerge from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

In an April 27 filing with the Federal Communications Commission, NCTA said the nine largest U.S. incumbent cable operators have deployed 55 million operator-supplied set-tops with CableCARD modules – about the same number it reported in its last disclosure in February 2016.

Meanwhile, the number of CableCARD modules deployed in retail products such as TiVo boxes reached 621,400, up from 589,000 in the February report.

The NCTA has been issuing these reports since the original ban took effect in July 2007.

The FCC, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with new set-top box rules that it intends to apply to all MVPDs, not just cable operators. The cable industry has argued that new mandates are not needed, given momentum of the market toward an apps-based economy.

However, last week FCC chairman Tom Wheeler was undaunted in the pursuit of new rules, holding that his proposal "has gotta be done. And that's the road we are headed down."

Wheeler also was not moved by Comcast's launch of the Xfinity TV Partner Program, which, early on, will see an app for the MSO's full suite of pay TV services reach Samsung smart TVs and the Roku streaming platform. "What Comcast giveth, Comcast can taketh away," he said. 

Last week, Comcast Cable president and CEO Neil Smit said more than 40 companies have inquired about the program since it was launched, and labeled the FCC's initial, critical response to the program "uncalled for." 

The Consumer Video Choice Coalition says that more than 100,000 "consumer voices" have contacted the FCC in support of its set-top box proposal.

That proposal is to give third-parties, which are represented in the coalition, access to MVPD set-top content and data so they can wed it with over-the-top offerings in a gateway device.

Those comments were generated by the Unlock the Box campaign, which was also the FCC's branding on the effort, and via Change.org's similar online petition effort.

While edge providers, including Google and Amazon, support the proposal, many others do not, including cable and telco ISPs, advertisers, and some Hill Democrats, at least as the proposal currently stands. 

Among those supporting the Unlock the Box campaign are Consumer Reports, Common Cause, Demand Progress Fight for the Future, and Public Knowledge, who have also pushed for strong network neutrality rules.

Almost 30 companies have put in inquires to Comcast about a new  Xfinity TV Partner Programintroduced Wednesday (April 20) that will enable CE partners  to offer the MSO’s full suite of video services, including live, VOD and cloud DVR recordings to their respective retail devices.

Samsung is the first TV maker to join the initiative, and Comcast has also announced a deal with Roku that will bring its authenticated Xfinity TV partner app to its streaming players and integrated TVs that are powered by its OS. CE companies interested in the program can register or participate in it at no cost, though they will be expected to bear the costs for development, marketing, and integration.

Comcast announced the program and as the FCC looks to create new rules aimed at “unlocking” the set-top box. Comcast, which filed comments (PDF) today panning that rulemaking effort, holding that  a government mandate is unnecessary amid a market that is already working under an app-driven economy.

“Our Roku and Xfinity Partner announcements are doing exactly what the statute seeks by offering our service on competitive devices available through retail outlets,” David Cohen, SVP and chief diversity officer of Comcast, wrote in this blog post.

Since the announcement about the program and the partnerships with  Samsung and Roku, Comcast has received “inquiries from almost 30 other companies including some of the biggest tech companies as well as new startups,” Cohen said, claiming that it’s “evidence that CE manufacturers want to offer these apps-based solutions to their customers to access our service. What the FCC is doing far exceeds its authority under the statute and ignores this marketplace progress.”

Comcast isn’t identifying by name who made the inquiries about the program. TiVo, which is in favor of new rules that would establish a successor to the CableCARD , said on Wednesday that it had nothing in the works regarding Comcast’s new Xfinity TV app program, “but we’re always open to discussions.”

The FCC was skeptical when Comcast announced its Xfinity TV apps program in part because it appears to center on a proprietary UI controlled by the MSO and “seems to allow only Comcast content on different devices, rather than allowing those devices to integrate or search across Comcast content as well as other content consumers subscribe to.” The FCC also acknowledged that it didn’t know all of the details of the announcement at the time.

In the blog, Cohen claimed that the FCC’s dismissive view on the announcements also mischaracterized them. “The Commission is wrong that our new Xfinity TV Partner App with Samsung and Roku would ‘only allow  Comcast content on different devices’,” Cohen wrote. “Whether on a Roku or on a Samsung TV, all the apps that consumers can currently use to access video content will still be available to them.  They’ll just also be able to access Xfinity TV content through this app on popular retail devices and without having to lease a set-top box.”

Cohen added that those consumers will also continue to have access to other apps and services using the interfaces designed by the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and HBO.

“In addition, they will get whatever umbrella user interface and search functionality that the device itself provides, user interfaces that Samsung and Roku already have for all of their other apps,” he said.