Unlike operating systems on a personal computer, the cable company controls what OCAP programs run on the consumer's machine.
Cable companies have required OCAP as part of the Cablecard 2.0 specification, a proposal that is controversial and has not been approved by the Federal Communications Commission.
Cable companies have stated that two-way communications by third party devices on their networks will require them to support OCAP.
[1] The Consumer Electronics Association and other groups argue OCAP is intended to block features that compete with cable company provided services and that consumers should be entitled to add, delete and otherwise control programs as on their personal computers.
Because OCAP is based on GEM, it has a lot in common with the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP)-standard defined by the DVB project.