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from: Maryland Gazette Net

Why Verizon picked Montgomery for its battle

‘‘I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”— Capt. Renault in ‘‘Casablanca”

When Verizon recently dug into its vast bag of armaments and lobbed a lawsuit at Montgomery County, the only one apparently surprised by the move was County Council Vice President Marilyn Praisner. In a statement released after the July 4 holiday, Praisner admitted to being ‘‘stunned to have these false accusations by Verizon leveled against Montgomery County.”

from: NewsDay

Cable TV sues to overturn decision favoring AT&T
July 19, 2006, 8:46 PM EDT

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) _ The battle between the cable television industry and AT&T over expanded video service went to federal court on Wednesday.

from: Sacramento Bee

Cable bill's picture is fuzzy

By Jim Sanders -- Bee Capitol Bureau

Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, July 16, 2006

Propelled by powerful lawmakers and big-money corporations, California is on the verge of drastically changing the state's cable television industry, but here's a warning from critics of the 20-page proposal: Read the fine print. The legislation, one of the year's most fiercely contested measures, would allow AT&T and Verizon to obtain a statewide franchise to compete in the huge home entertainment market by offering a "triple play" of phone, video and Internet service.

This is good news, the first state franchise bill to fall by a veto from a governor. Should the telco bills stall in Congress we'll see more action like this at the state level. The LA Governor's statement can be downloaded at: http://www.legis.state.la.us/archive/06rs/veto/hb699v.pdf

LA Governor vetoes cable bill, few appropriations

from: Monterey County Weekly

Dialing for Dollars
Telecom industry pumps millions into AB 2987.

Jul 06, 2006
By Ryan Masters

On June 19, state Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez threw out the first pitch at a San Francisco Giants game in AT&T Park. In itself, it wouldn’t be a very newsworthy event—especially since the Democratic lawmaker from Los Angeles doesn’t have much of an arm. But many fear that his recent pitch to the Assembly on behalf of telecommunications giants AT&T and Verizon may be a strike against city governments and community media across California.

from:NWI Times

Gate opens on cable, video franchises

New Indiana law, transferring local control to state, takes effect

BY KEITH BENMAN
kbenman@nwitimes.com

Indiana started taking applications Monday for statewide video franchises, upending the decades-old system by which each locality decided which cable company or companies could operate on its turf.

Verizon must have the same confused legal and PR strategists as AT&T. On the same day, Verizon releases one press release that applauds the California Senate Committee for the passage of a terrible state franchise - and then another announcing they are suing Montgomery County, Md., over negotiations for a video franchise there. The odd thing about the lawsuit, a representative for Montgomery County claims Verizon hasn't even filed an application yet.

from: SF Gate

Bad deal for cable customers AT&T, Assembly Dems bill's winners

- Jamie Court
Sunday, June 25, 2006

AT&T is spending tens of millions of dollars on advertising, lobbying and campaign contributions in California to bring what it claims is more choice and greater competition to the cable television industry. That's half right. There would be more choices. But not for you and me, just for AT&T.

from: Capital Weekly

AT&T's new privacy policy is sticking point in cable-access legislation

By Shane Goldmacher

(published June 26th, 2006)
On Tuesday, the Senate utilities committee will consider legislation to drastically expand telephone companies' access to California's lucrative video- and Internet-services market.

We are posting this alert related to California Bill AB2987. If you are in the Sacramento area, please attend the AB2987 hearing tomorrow. If you are elsewhere in the state and cannot attend, Media Alliance has an easy to send email letter
Additional information can be found at these web sites:
http://www.acmwest.org