from: Alliance for Community Media
The Alliance for Community Media has issued this call for action in regards to the upcoming FCC ruling to be issued on Video Franchising. Please take a moment to make calls and send letters before December 13th!
Action Alert: FCC MB 05-311, Demand Fair Play for PEG Community, Our Towns And Cities!
The Alliance is calling on all supporters of Community Media to call and write the FCC no later than Wednesday, December 13!
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is preparing to issue a rule-making on video-franchising. This rule-making is the bureaucratic version of the national telecom laws we helped to defeat this past year. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. We cannot allow the FCC do to us what some members of Congress were unable to do.
Part of what is being proposed:
• All PEG, I-Net and other in-kind services would be counted against 5% franchise fees. 5% would be an absolute cap.
• Municipalities would have to approve new franchises for telephone companies within 90 days or allow them to operate without franchises.
• There would be no build-out requirements allowed whatsoever.
We expect a vote by December 20th.
After Wednesday December 13th, public comment and meetings will be formally cut-off. We have to get our contacts and comments in before then so the weight of our community will be felt in the formal record.
The FCC process is different and more formal than is the Congressional. The meetings are required to be made public. There are five commissioners and they all have to respond to YOU. You may contact them each, whether you represent an organization or not. They have all had to meet with industry already. They need to hear from us.
Attached below are talking points and tools for making this contact easy. The Public Policy Work Group has tried to make this FCC contact an easy step-by-step process for everyone. It is a learning process for us all. Please download the Action Alert and join in the action today.
We are always successful when we stand together in these efforts. We know what is at stake. We understand how these little technical questions fit into the big picture of who we are as a people and the world those who follow will inherit from us.
We'd like to generate about 500 contacts in the 5 days. The whole set of actions will take 30-45 minutes, max. It is not too much of an investment. Set aside a little time and spread the word far and wide.
The ACM is calling for supporters to do four actionable items. Directions are in this document and at the Alliance site. We've taken the liberty of adding the steps here as well:
Four Steps to be Heard Introduction
Step One Call the FCC
Step Two File an FCC Comment
Step Three Send your FCC Comment to Congress
Step Four Fax Congress
Be sure to check the Alliance site for updates.
Four Steps to Being Heard
Below are the actions which we would ask that you take by 5 PM EST Wednesday, December 13th. We hope that you will take all of the actions, but understand fully how busy you may be. Therefore, we have listed the actions in order of importance and effect.
Step 1
Call each of the FCC commission offices using the attached script as-is or modified as needed.
Step 2
File your official record of the call(s). This is called “Notice of ex parte meeting” and goes into the official record. Web address is listed in instructions below.
Step 3
With one click, you can email your ex parte letter and comments to the FCC and Congress using our auto-mailer linked to the Alliance home page www.alliancecm.org.
Step 4
Fax a copy of the same ex-parte letter to your three Congress members.
[Note: The multiple exposures to our message are intentional.]
Step 1: Call the FCC
[Estimated Time: 2 minutes per call]
We want large numbers of short calls. You are not asked to be experts, merely to weigh in on the matter of video franchising and PEG. This will likely take less than two minutes. When you call, you will likely be referred to voicemail. Whether you get voicemail or are graced with a real conversation, the script is the basically the same. This is a formal process, so it is okay to read from a script. Feel free to make it fit your needs. It’s your call. They have to listen.
Hello, my name is [Name]. I am [Title/Relationship] for [Organization or Community] located in [City and State].
I am calling about MB 05-311 on video franchising. The following are our concerns:
We unite with Alliance for Community Media members in calling for competition without destruction of local, community controlled media.
1) The proposed rule eliminates incentive for providers to negotiate in good faith. If the city and the provider do not come to agreement in 90 days, the new provider can proceed without agreement. They can then make billions of dollars in our public land without considering local needs.
2) The proposed rule lacks a remedy for geographic discrimination. Public, Education and Government Access, or PEG, are tools to engage our local communities in democracy. Democratic participation should be for all, not based on a company business rule.
3) The proposed rule reduces the support for PEG, institutional networks and other in-kind services from that allowed by current Federal law. It is in direct contradiction to language written by the telephone companies and already passed in key states. This reduction would eliminate a valued community resource with no demonstrated effect on either price or competition.
4) The changes being proposed are dramatic and over-step the FCC’s authority. We believe that such changes to the law should be made by Congress, not the FCC. These changes will slow competition by confusing the legal framework. Changes to the law should be decided by law-makers, not the FCC.
I can be reached at [Phone or Email]. Thank you for your consideration.
FCC Phone Numbers Below:
| Commissioner | Media Aide | Phone Number |
| MacDowell | Christina Pauze (paw-ZAY) | 202-418-2200 |
| Tate | Chris Robbins | 202-418-2500 |
| Chairman Martin | Heather Dixon | 202-418-1000 |
| Adelstein | Rudy Brioche (bree-o-SHAY) | 202-418-2300 |
| Copps | Bruce Gottlieb | 202-418-2000 |
Step 2: Filing an Official Call Record (Ex Parte)
[Estimated Time: 5 Minutes]
1) Cut and paste the letter below into a blank Word, WordPerfect or text document. It may be completely blank or may be electronic stationery. Save the file.
2) Fill in and edit the letter as appropriate.
3) Go to the FCC filing page: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi
Use Explorer or Firefox - some problems have been reported with Safari.
4) Fill out the cover sheet information, including:
a. #1: fill in “05-311”
b. #11: do check box
c. #12: pull menu down to “notice”
5) In the green section, type “ex parte notice” for file description.
6) In the green section, use “Browse” button to attach your letter file.
7) In the green section, use pull down menu to identify letter format.
8) Hit Send. [Note: Correspondence is appropriately addressed to “Secretary” Dortch.]
9) Done!
Sample letter below (fill in areas in italic):
[Date]
Ex Parte
Ms. Marilyn Dortch, Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20554
Re: Implementation of Section 621(a)(1) of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, MB Docket No. 05-311
Dear Ms. Dortch,
This notice is to record our ex parte meeting(s) with [FCC Commissioners or staff names]. We stated our concerns [directly via phone or via voicemail] on [date(s)]. Our comments are summarized as follows:
We unite with Alliance for Community Media members in calling for competition without destruction of local, community controlled media.
1) The proposed rule eliminates incentive for providers to negotiate in good faith. If the city and the provider do not come to agreement within 90 days, the provider can proceed without an agreement. They can then make billions of dollars using our public land without considering local needs. This framework would be unreasonable.
2) The proposed rule lacks a remedy for geographic discrimination. Public, Education and Government Access, or PEG, are tools to engage our local communities in democracy. Democratic participation should be for all, not based on a company business rule. The public-right-of-way is owned by all in our community, not just those in an area lucky enough to be served. We believe that inevitable market imbalances must be anticipated by the FCC, as they were by Congress, and that any rule-making must provide these three elements:
A) A standard for identifying imbalances in service.
B) A party responsible for identifying the imbalance—logically, the municipality.
C) A means for prevention or remedy of the imbalance.
3) The proposed rule reduces the support for PEG or other community media services from what is allowed by current Federal law. We believe this is an arbitrary reduction which will hurt our communities. It is in direct contradiction to language authored by telephone companies and already passed in key states such as California and Texas. This reduction would eliminate a valued community resource with no demonstrated effect on either subscriber price or level of competition.
4) The changes being proposed to the law are dramatic. We believe that such changes to the law should be made by Congress, not the FCC. These changes will slow competition by confusing the legal framework. Such changes should be decided by law-makers, not the courts. The FCC should not usurp Congressional authority.
We look forward to working with the FCC to establish a process which supports both competition and community fairness. Please contact us if you have questions or comments.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Title and/or Affiliation]
[Street Address]
[City, State Zip]
[Phone]
[Email Address]
CC: Christina Pauze
Chris Robbins
Heather Dixon
Rudy Brioche
Bruce Gottlieb
My Congressional Delegation
Step 3: Email copies to your Congressional delegation.
[Estimated time: 2 Minutes]
With one click, you should email your ex-parte letter or other comments to the FCC and Congress using our auto mailer at:
http://www.democracyinaction.org.
This direct link is also posted on the Alliance home page.
All you have to do is cut and paste your letter from Step 2 above into our easy auto-mailer. It will go automatically to your Senators and Representative.
Step 4: Fax a copy of the same letter to your Congress delegation.
[Estimated time: 5 Minutes]
Fax a copy of the same ex-parte letter to your three Congress members. A physical document in the office is more powerful than email alone.
The current fax numbers will follow on separate email and will be posted on Alliance website, thereafter. We will issue a similar document for the new, 110th Congress when available.
Or - get faxes numbers here by typing in your zip code: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
[Note: The multiple exposures to our message are intentional.]