Cable Plan Gets Tepid Nod

After two years of fruitless attempts, the Undergraduate Council took its first step toward providing students with cable television in their dorms as part of a pilot program run by an outside vendor.

Though the UC overwhelmingly passed a bill yesterday requiring its members to e-mail their House lists about the opportunity, the council declined to formally put its stamp of approval on the project, known as Crimson Cable, because of fears of legal liability.

Crimson Cable, founded and headed by Nicholas J. Castine ’10, plans to conduct a trial run that would provide 100 students with 250 television channels over the Internet. Students who sign up within the next week or so will likely have cable by the start of second semester, according to Castine.

Despite its support of Crimson Cable, the UC is cautious about claiming any responsibility for the program. The UC will only inform the student body about Crimson Cable without actually managing the program.

“We’re not actually running the program, or tied to it, or partnering with it,” said outgoing UC President Matthew L. Sundquist ’09. “Nick is accepting liability.”

“We need to publicize [Crimson Cable] without having any sort of institutional tie to something that is legally dubious,” said outgoing vice president Randall S. Sarafa ’09 during yesterday’s UC meeting.

But Castine said legal issues concerning Crimson Cable are “gone” at this point in time because he has been in direct contact with representatives from the Dish, a satellite television provider.

Crimson Cable subscribers will use Slingboxes, which allow access to cable television channels on the Internet. Unlike other proposals, the service will not require the installation of any cables. Castine hopes to make the service available across campus and will limit the number of Slingboxes to six per House.

“I think of it really as a coop, just a bunch of students banding together to get TV,” Castine wrote in an e-mailed statement. “I don’t like to think of it as a business.”

Crimson Cable will cost $59.99 a month, in addition to startup costs like the Slingboxes, Castine said.

While the UC is currently not a managing partner, Sundquist said a successful trial may encourage the UC to further its investigation of the service.

Castine said the UC’s endorsement was important “just for getting the advertising out.”

Castine said he had been working to find a solution to the lack of cable on campus for a few years.

“It was ridiculous,” he said. “There are so many simple ways to do something like this.”

Noah S. Selsby ’95, a client technology adviser at FAS IT, said despite discussions with the UC about Crimson Cable, FAS IT remains unsure about its effects.

“People use all sorts of network devices on our network... [and we] don’t want to know what those are unless there is a reason,” Selsby said.

—Staff Writer Eric P. Newcomer can be reached at newcomer@fas.harvard.edu.