From: tweek@netcom.com (Michael D. Maxfield)
Subject: S-12 part 7/?
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 92 21:24:55 GMT
Organization: Movement to Ban or Re-Regulate the CABLE MONOPOLIES
Distribution: usa

(part 7/?)

"(B) At such time as the Commission prescribes 
modifications of the standards for television broadcast
signals, the Commission shall initiate a proceeding to
establish any changes in the signal carriage requirements of
cable television systems necessary to ensure cable carriage
of such broadcast signals of local commercial television
stations which have been changed to conform with such
modified standards.

"(5) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a cable operator
shall not be rquired to carry the signal of any local commercial
television station that substantially dublicates the
signal of another local commercial television station which
is carried on its cable system, or to carry the signals of
more than one local commercial television station affiliated
with a particular broadcast network (as such term is defined
by regulation).  If a cable operator elects to carry
on its cable systema signal which substatially duplicates
the signal of another local commercial television station
carriead on the cable system, or to carry on its system the
signals of more than one local commercial television station
affiliated with a particular broadcast network, all
such signals shall be counted toward the number of signals
the operator is required to carry under paragraph (1).

"(6) Each signal carried in fulfillment of carriage
obligations of a cable operator under this section shall be
carried on the cable system channel number on which the
local commercial television station is broadcast over the
air, or on the cahnnel on which it was carried on July
19, 1985, at the election of this station, or on such other
channel number as is mutually agreed upon by the station
and the cable operator.  Any disputes regarding the positioning
of a local commercial television station shall be resolved
by the Commission.

"(7) Signals carried in fulfillment of the requirements
of this section shall be provided to every subscriber of a
cable system.  Such signals shall be viewable via cable on
all television receivers of a subscribers which are connected
to a cable system by a cable operator or for which a cable
operator provides a connection.  If a cable operator authorizes
subscribers to install additional receiver connections,
but does not provide the subscriber with such connections,
or with the equipment and materials for such connections,
the operator shall notify such subscribers of all broadcast
stations carried on the cable system which cannot be
viewed via cable without a converter box, and shall offer
to sell or lease such a converter box to such subscribers
at reasonable rates.

"(8) A cable operator shall identify, upon request by
any person, the signals carried on its system in fulfillment
of the requirements of this section.

"(9) A cable operator shall provide written notice to
a local commercial television station at least 30 days prior
to either deleting from carriage or repositioning that
station.  No deletion or repositioning of a local commercial
television station shall occur during a period in which
major television ratings services measure the size of
audiences of local television stations.  The notification
provisions of this paragraph shall not be used to undermine
or evade the channel positioning or carriage requirements
imposed upon cable operators under this section.

"(10) A cable operator shall not accept or request
monetary payment or other valuable cinsideration in 
exchange either for carriage of local commercial television
stations in fulfillment of the requirements of this section 
or for the channel positioning rights provided to such
stations under this section, except that---

"(A) any such station, if it does not deliver to
the principal headend of the cable system either a
signal of -45dbm for UHF signals or -49dbm for
VHF signals at the input terminals of the signal
processing equipment, shall be required to bear the
costs associated with delivering a good quality signal
or a baseband video signal;

"(B) a cable operator may accept payments
from stations which would be considered distant signals
under section 111 of title 17, United States
Code, as reimbursement for the incremental copyright
costs assessed against such cable operator for
carriage of such signal; and

"(C) a cable operator may continue to accept
monetary payment or other valuable consideration in
exchange for carriage or channel positioning of the
signal of any local commercial television station
carried in fulfillment of the requirements of this section,
through, but not beyond, the date of expiration
of an agreement thereon between a cable operator
and a local commercial television station entered into
prior to June 26, 1990.

"(c) If there are not sufficient signals of full power
local commercial television stations to fill the channels set
aside under subsection (b), the cable operator shall be
required to carry qualified low power stations until such
channels are filled.

"(d)(1) Whenever a local commercial television station
believes that a cable operator has failed to meet its
obligations under this section, such station shall notify the
operator, in writing, of the alleged failure and identify its
reasons for believing that the cable operator is obligated
to carry the signals of such station or has otherwise failed
to comply with the channel positioning or repositioning
requirements of this section.  The cable operator shall, within
30 days after such written notification, respond in writing
to such notification and either commence to carry the signal
of such station in accordance with the terms requested
or state its reasons for believing that it is not obligated
to carry such signal or is in compliance with the channel
positioning and repositioning requirements of this section.
A local commercial television station that is denied 
carriage or channel positioning or repositioning by a cable
operator may obtain review of such denial by filing a complaint
with the Commission.  Such complaint shall allege
the manner in which such cable operator has failed to
meet its obligations and the basis for such allegations.

"(2) The Commission shall afford such cable operator
an opportunity to present data and arguements to establish
that there has been no failure to meet its obligations under
this section.

"(3) Within 120 days after the date a complaint is
filed, the Commission shall determine whether the cable
operator has met such obligations under this section.  If the
Commission determines that the cable operator has failed
to meet such obligations, the Commission shall order the
cable operator to reposition the complaining station or, in
the case of an obligation to carry a station, to commence
carriage of the station and to continue such carriage for
at least 12 months.  If the Commission determines that
the cable operator has fully met the requirements of this
section, it shall dismiss the complaint.

"(e) No cable operator shall be required---

"(1) to provide or make available any input
selector switch as defined in section 76.5(mm) of title
47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any comparable 
device, or

"(2) to provide information to subscribers about
input selector switches or comparable devices.

"(f) Within 180 days after the date of enactment of
this section, the Commission shall, following a rulemaking
proceeding, issue regulations implementing the requirements
imposed by this section.

"(g) Within 90 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall
commence an inquiry to determine whether broadcast television
stations whose programming consists predominantly
of sales presentations are serving the public interest,
convenience, and necessity.  The Commission shall take into
consideration the viewing of such stations, the level of
competing demands for the channels allocated to such 
stations, and the role of such stations in providing
competition to nonbroadcast services offering similar
programming.  In the event that the Commission concludes that
one or more of such stations are not serving the public
interest, convenience, and necessity, the Commission shall
allow the licensees of such stations a reasonable period
within which to provide different programming, and shall
not deny such stations a renewal expectancy due to their
prior programming.".

************** END of PART 7 / ? ****************


Newsgroups: alt.cable-tv.re-regulate