Sony Inks 2-Way Cable Deal

Sony Electronics has negotiated an agreement with the country’s major cable operators, which collectively pass over 105 million U.S. homes, to begin producing two-way digital cable ready products that will not require a separate set-top box.

The company, which made the announcement in conjunction with the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), said the binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the six largest cable companies - Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House Networks on the bi-directional cable initiative will open the doors for similar agreements with the cable MSOs and other consumer electronics companies. It is expected to make bi-directional cable-ready products available to more than 82 percent of U.S. cable subscribers.

Sony and the NCTA said other consumer electronics companies “have been invited to formally join the MOU.”

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Under the agreement the parties will adopt the Java-based “Tru2way” solution as the national interactive “plug-and-play” standard; new streamlined technology licenses; and new ways for content providers, consumer electronics manufacturers, information technology companies and cable operators to cooperate in evolving the Tru2way technology at Cable Television Laboratories (CableLabs), the cable industry's research and development consortium, Sony said.

A key element of the agreement involved the use of “write once, run anywhere” applications, and to the incorporation of secure digital interfaces that protect consumers' home recording rights along with copyright owners' rights to secure their digital content, Sony said. Exact details of MOU terms were not released to give other potential signatories time to complete their review of the document.

This could be a very big deal, as it buries a long running dispute between commercial equipment suppliers and cable companies. More here and here.