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from: Waxing America

Looong Public Hearing on Video Bill

Today's public hearing of the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities and the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Commerce Utilities and Rail on AB 207/SB 107 was an endurance marathon for both the legislators and their staff and for the 150 or so of us who attended to testify or observe or record. About 70 people registered to testify; probably about 50 actually did so since many had to leave as the afternoon wore on.

from: Knox News

A warning on proposed legislation in TN

I'm encouraging all readers of this page and residents statewide to voice a loud opposition to a bill before the legislature which drains funds away from cities and counties, removes local control over cable franchise rights, and essentially hands the telephone companies both an unfair advantage and reduces existing standards of service.

from: Nashville Post

AT&T Limits Itself and Maligns Cities

From Nashville Post, March 27, 2007
By Milt Capps

In remarks aimed at quashing legislation sought by AT&T, Tennessee Municipal League President Tommy Bragg, who is mayor of Murfreesboro, told the Tennessee House commerce committee this morning that as a result of recent action by the Federal Communications Commission, the relief sought by AT&T and resisted with increasing intensity by the state’s cities and counties “is, in fact, unnecessary.”

from: Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

Black Groups Oppose Video Bill in Minnesota

March 28, 2007
By Matthew Little

Representatives of both the Minneapolis NAACP and the Minneapolis Urban League testified before the Minnesota House Telecommunication, Regulations and Infrastructure Committee last Friday, March 23. They spoke in opposition to a bill labeled “The Minnesota Video Competition Act.”

Video: Press Conference to Oppose HB 1500

watch it at Google Video

from: Chicago Access Network Television
43 min 33 sec - Mar 23, 2007
www.keepusconnected.org

from: Waxing America

Wisconsin Legislature Holds Public Hearing on AT&T's Video Bill
March 27, 2007

The Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities and the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Commerce Utilities and Rail are holding a joint public hearing today (Tuesday) on AB/SB 207, the AT&T-backed, fast-tracked legislation that would create a new, almost entirely unregulated state-level franchise for video service and eliminate the current system of municipal cable franchises. We've bored you with the subject again and again and again.

from: Wisconsin Radio Network

Video competition bill draws mixed testimony

Tuesday, March 27, 2007, 5:41 PM
By Andrew Beckett

State lawmakers were faced with a wide variety of opinions Tuesday, on a proposal that would make it easier for video service providers to enter statewide markets. Nearly 75 people showed up to testify on the Video Competition Act before a joint legislative hearing. The act would allow providers to enter into a statewide video franchise agreement, instead of the current practice of negotiating with local governments.

from: Business Wire

City of Naperville Testifies Against Illinois House Bill 1500

March 27, 2007 05:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time

House Telecommunications Committee Agrees to Amend Bill

NAPERVILLE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The City of Naperville continued its opposition to Illinois House Bill 1500, the Cable and Video Competition Law of 2007, through testimony before the House Telecommunications Committee on March 22. As a result, the Committee Chairman declared that HB 1500 will be amended.

from: Technology Daily

Florida Takes Another Crack At Statewide Video Franchising

By Michael Martinez

(Monday, March 26) Statewide video franchising legislation in the Sunshine State may be headed back to the place it died last year.

The Florida House Friday approved a bill to let new video service providers seek statewide deals instead of negotiating with localities separately. Rep. Trey Traviesa, the bill's author, offered a similar proposal last year.

from: Communications Daily

NY State Video Franchise Bill Hearing
Monday, March 26, 2007

Opponents of video franchise reform in N.Y. told an Assembly committee that the bill to shift franchising from municipalities to the PSC would impose unreasonable buildout requirements on new entrants, weaken municipalities’ powers to protect their citizens and hold video franchises hostage to compliance with network neutrality regulations.