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Note: True to their blind de-regulatory politics, these lawmakers contradict themselves and their own position. Just a year ago, these same legislators rammed the COPE act through the House under the auspices of making cable more competitive. In this letter to the FCC they now take the exact opposite position. The only consistency to be found in these hack politicians is the level of lobbyist and corporate dollars rolling into their campaigns.

from: Wet Machine

GOP To America: All Well In Cable-Land! Skyrocketing Rates and Lousy Customer Service All In Your Mind! Forget What We Said Last Summer About Needing COPE!

Harold Feld

I must applaud the Republican House Commerce Committee members for their willingness to stay bought.

God knows, with the number of issues on their plate and with their party's standing plummeting in the polls, you'd think Republicans would decline to publicly defend the cable industry. What with rates consistently rising faster than inflation (and despite increasing profits-per-subscriber until the last quarter or so), cable operators have raised rates every year - whether they need to or not. As if that were not enough, the customer service records of the major cable companies are abominable (or why would Mona “The Hammer” Shaw have attained folk-hero status?). So with us heading into an election, and the Republicans weighed down by all the baggage of the Iraq War, corruption scandals, accusations of cronyism and mismanagement, and a general anti-special interest sentiment in the electorate, you wouldn't think the Republican party would rise up en mass to defend the cable industry from one of their own?

from: Our Channels Indiana

Comcast Closes Public Access TV Studios Across Northern Indiana
Written by Andrea Price, on Sunday, 18 November 2007

A year and a half after the enactment of the Indiana Telecommunications Reform Act of 2006, Comcast notified producers in South Bend, Hammond, Merrillville, Mishawaka, Plymouth, Goshen, and Portage -- and Edwardsburg, Michigan - that it would be closing production studios and playback facilities for public access TV.

from: Knox News

Lobbying costs hit $11M in AT&T, cable TV industry battle

By Tom Humphrey (Contact)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007

NASHVILLE - Lobbying expenses in Tennessee's legislative war between AT&T and the cable television industry reached the $11 million plateau this year, according to reports filed with the Tennessee Ethics Commission by major participants.

from: CNET

'Barron's' sees AT&T bidding for EchoStar

By Reuters
Published: November 18, 2007, 1:30 PM PST

AT&T is trying to put together a bid for EchoStar Communications before the end of the year, whetted by the satellite operator's recent stock dip, according to Barron's financial newspaper.

from: Madison.com

SAT., NOV 17, 2007 - 11:05 PM
Cable bill may not be boon to consumers
By MARK PITSCH
608-252-6145
mpitsch@madison.com

Supporters of a statewide cable competition bill, including telecommunications giant AT&T, have been saying for more than a year that the measure will offer Wisconsin consumers more television choices and lower prices.

from: Madison.com

SAT., NOV 17, 2007 - 11:06 PM
Cable competition bill's other consequences

If the cable competition bill becomes law as expected, it won't only affect whether more than one company offers paid-television services in some communities:

CUSTOMER SERVICE: Local governments wouldn 't be able to require companies to meet certain customer service standards.

from: EFF

November 15th, 2007
Congress Keeps Telecoms on the Hook for Illegal Spying
Full House and Senate Judiciary Committee Each Pass Bills with No Amnesty for Warrantless Surveillance

Washington, D.C. - Both the full House of Representatives and the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to keep telecommunications companies on the hook for their role in illegal government spying on millions of ordinary Americans -- at least for now.

from: The Altoona Star

Cable and video franchising: We deserve better
November 16th, 2007 by Senator Vinehout

Imagine a world in which only a machine answered the phone when you went to complain about your cable service, or your service was turned off even though your bill said you owed nothing. Where large refrigerator-size boxes were placed in your front yard and you had no say over them, or your street was torn up by a private company and local taxpayers had to pay to clean up the mess.

from: MultiChannel News

Did Martin Flunk A Cable Math Quiz?

By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 11/16/2007 2:15:00 AM

Washington - Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin says that the cable industry’s penetration of the U.S. television market, for the first time, has crossed 70% of households in the U.S. that can subscribe to cable systems offering more than 36 channels of programming.