ABSTRACT
The spread of conditional access systems will be one of the most dramatic changes accompanying the start of digital broadcasting. It will do much to change the viewers’ experience of television. It also raises one of the most pressing issues about the regulatory framework for digital television. Since most digital broadcasts will be encrypted-either to facilitate charging or to protect the broadcaster from liability for rights payments outside the territory for which they have been purchased-viewers will require a conditional access decoder to receive those broadcasts. Those conditional access systems will operate as electronic turnstiles into the home, controlling which broadcasts and other services viewers can receive, and which viewers and customers broadcasters and other service providers can reach. Without adequate regulation, vertically integrated conditional access operators and broadcasters could discriminate against competitors and prevent viewers from accessing a full range of channels and other services. The incentives for such anti-competitive behaviour could, however, be substantial (Nolan 1997:601).
