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FROM: Leader Online

Cable bill opponents continue fight

By Kathleen Folkerth

GREATER AKRON — A bill that would change the way cable franchises are negotiated is now in the Ohio House as opponents speak out on the changes it could bring to local access channels.

Ohio Senate Bill 117, called the Ohio Video Competition Act of 2007, was passed by the Senate’s Energy and Public Utilities Committee by a vote of 7-1 May 8. The next day it was approved by the Senate with a vote of 29-4. Now the bill is in the Public Utilities Committee of the Ohio House of Representatives. A public hearing for proponents of the bill is scheduled for May 23, while one for opponents will be May 30.

from: Local Voice Ohio
On May 9th the Ohio Senate passed SB 117. Through the hard work of members of the Senate Energy & Public Utilities Committee, local governments, PEG Access supporters, consumer interest groups, the citizens of our state and groups like Local Voice Ohio, SB 117, as passed in the Senate, was an improvement over the bill as it was introduced in January.

from: Orlando Sentinel

Veto in order
Our position: The measure to increase competition in the cable TV market is flawed.

Posted May 17, 2007

The best thing you can say about the push to increase competition in the cable-television market in Florida is that the folks who came up with the title "Consumer Choice Act of 2007" have a sense of humor.

from: The Austin Chronicle

Media Watch: The Incredible Disappearing Telecom Committee
BY KEVIN BRASS

Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford
Photo By Jana Birchum

Two years after the Texas Legislature passed a sweeping reorganization of the competitive landscape for delivering telecommunication services to homes, community groups are wondering what happened to a much-anticipated committee that was supposed to monitor the law's impact.

from: InfoZine

Telecom vs. Cable Battle Moves to States
Thursday, May 17, 2007

Science & TechnologyBy Daniel C. Vock - A multimillion-dollar fight over who gets to deliver movies, sports and news to TV screens in homes across America is spilling into state capitols.

Stateline.org - infoZine - The nation's biggest telephone companies, such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., already sell voice lines and Internet connections. Now, in some cities, they're using newly updated fiber-optic networks to compete with cable companies by delivering TV programming. But to get into consumers' homes more quickly, the phone companies want to bypass the city-by-city approval process cable companies have followed for decades and seek statewide agreements instead.

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.

from: Miami Herald

THE LEGISLATURE
BellSouth rings up a $1 million bill for lobbying

The price tag for lobbying in the state Capitol is at least $26 million this year -- and could approach $70 million -- as BellSouth leads the way with a million-dollar effort.

BY MARC CAPUTO AND GARY FINEOUT
mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com

from: Technology Daily

NEW YORK BILL WOULD IMPOSE NET NEUTRALITY RULES

May 16, 2007 Wednesday
PM EDITION

A comprehensive telecommunications bill making its way through the New York legislature also includes language to mandate the equal treatment of high-speed content on the Internet. The so-called network neutrality provision is part of a proposal, A.B. 3980, to overhaul the state’s video-franchising rules by allowing service providers to seek statewide deals. The legislation also would establish a state broadband development authority.