Supporters of the HbbTV consortium are being invited to become full members of the organisation.
In an email sent on behalf of the steering board it was explained as part of the transitional arrangements towards the opening of membership a number of privileges will be withdrawn from supporters that have not signed up by June 9. These include the participation in meetings and the ability to contribute to further versions of the specification.
The cost of membership for the first year is around €7,000.
The steering board currently comprises ANT Software, EBU (European Broadcasting Union), France Televisions, Institut für Rundfunktechnik, OpenTV, Philips Electronics, Samsung, SES Astra, Sony Corporation and TF1.
Klaus Illgner-Fehns, chair of the HbbTV consortium said: “Since its formation HbbTV has received support from across the delivery chain ensuring that the standard represents the interests of broadcasters, CE device manufacturers and software providers. The formalisation of the membership process is another important step for the HbbTV consortium.”
At the same time, the organisation has revised its IPR policy, originally created last year following discussions with the standards body ETSI. It has been modelled on that of the DVB project, to which many members of the HbbTV consortium also belong.
Members will be required to notify the steering group chairman of any essential patents held within 90 days of the publication of a specification being published.
HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) is becoming an essential component of European TV projects outside of the UK with interest spreading from outside Germany and France and towards new areas that include the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Spain. It is based on existing standards and web technologies including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum), CEA, DVB and W3C.
