Save Access

from: Thurston Community TV

What the FCC?
Saturday, June 23, 2007

Local Governments Ask Court to Stay FCC Ruling on Video Franchising

Washington, DC – June 20, 2007 –
Local government and nonprofit organizations from around the country today asked a federal appeals court to block, pending judicial review, implementation of the recent franchising order adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which may otherwise go fully into effect in the next several weeks. The organizations assert that the FCC Order will severely restrict the ability of local governments to protect their citizens, rights-of-way, community channels and public safety networks. The organizations assert that the request for Stay is in the public interest since, among other things, under the FCC Order, "local franchising authorities will be forced to rush franchising decisions without being given an opportunity to ensure the interests of the public, including safety concerns, are met."

from: The Columbus Dispatch

Bill Would Mean Lots of Money for Giants: AT&T, Time Warner Unite to Push Lawmakers

By Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Jun. 3--A proposed state law expanding Ohioans' cable-video service options stretches 29 pages. But it can be summarized in just two words: big bucks.

from: USTV Media

Telcos Offer ‘Consumer Choice’, But What About Citizen Voice?

June 3rd, 2007 by Andy in Media and Democracy

There is a lot of talk surrounding the policy debates over eliminating local video franchising about the need to provide for ‘consumer choice.’ The fact is that local franchising does not in any way restrict the ability for any company to provide for that choice that so desires to do so. One vitally important factor which continues to be shortchanged in the plans being put forth by the telco corporations is that these video franchise changes being proposed will to all intents and purposes effectively eliminate cable access channels as we know them today. These corporations keep talking about ‘consumer choice’, but what about ‘citizen voice’? What makes access so unique and invaluable is that the choice it provides for is that of citizen voice, giving people the choice to express their voice over what is still the predominant instrument of media of our time, that being the medium of television.

Triple Ploy and the Lie of Competition

In the past two years telephone companies have rushed to introduce national and statewide video franchising legislation around the country to better position themselves as cable TV providers.

from: Bitchslappin

Choice and Competition in Cable and Telecomm, Take Two

I've been following the heavy handed and well funded lobbying of the Telecomm Giants to get into the IPTV business by pushing (and some say WRITING) the new State Level Legislation that has been introduced in a bunch of different States across the US.

from: Eldo Telecom

Telecom association chief's assertions at odds with reality

Thursday, May 17, 2007

United States Telecom Association President and CEO Walter B. McCormick Jr. filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission this week that contained two key myths of telco propaganda when it comes to broadband deployment in the U.S: 1) that competition is speeding broadband deployment and 2) that telcos are investing in broadband deployments in less densely populated areas of the U.S.

Note: This regulatory positioning of the NCTA represents big fights ahead for public interest obligations.

from: TV Technology

Cable Chief Calls for Dereg Excepting Interconnects

May 17, 2007

Cable lobby chief Kyle McSlarrow headlined a recent Media Institute luncheon where he riffed on silos. He said cylindrical storage structures were an outdated model for a regulatory regime.

from: MultiChannel News

Franchise Battles Persist

'Pigs’ Cited in Tenn.; DOJ Weighs In On Wisconsin Debate

By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 5/21/2007

Battles to reform video franchising rules in several states remain pitched, with strategies ranging from statesmanlike negotiations between all stakeholders to the distribution of plastic pigs on the steps of the Tennessee Capitol.

This week word came that the Grand Rapids Media Center (GRMC) is being forced to reduce operating hours, a casualty of the Michigan State Video Franchise passed last year.

Note: Spend some time with Harold Feld's excellent analysis below. It may seem a difficult read at first - but his observations will become crucial in the coming months.

from: Wet Machine

The 700 MHz Auction as the Next Front In the Cable/Telco War.