From: tweek@netcom.com (Michael D. Maxfield)
Subject: Re: Cable TV Regulation
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 92 04:46:16 GMT
Organization: Movement to Ban or Re-Regulate the CABLE MONOPOLIES
Distribution: usa
Keywords: regulation, congress

In article <1992Aug26.195049.7536@u.washington.edu> sieferme@u.washington.edu writes:
>----------cut here-------------------------------------------------
>
>CONGRESS WILL ACT ON LEGISLATION IN SEPTEMBER THAT
>COULD RAISE, NOT LOWER, YOUR MONTHLY CABLE RATES.
>
>As a cable subscriber, you may be required to fund a billion-dollar
>bonanza for network TV broadcasters.  Congress is considering
>legislation in September that could force cable companies to pay
>broadcast TV stations (ABC, CBS, NBC) as much as $1 billion a year.
>
>What will you get?  The same network programming, the same
>commercials - AND THE TAB.  Meanwhile, your neighbors who don't
>subscribe to cable will get the networks for free.
>
>Putting the government into cable TV also will increase cable's 
>operating and regulatory costs, which could lead to higher cable bills.
>
>THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ESTIMATES THIS 
>LEGISLATION COULD MEAN INCREASED COSTS OF $23 TO $51 PER YEAR
>FOR EACH CABLE SUBSCRIBER.
>
>Stop this bill from becoming law.  Contact your U.S. Senators NOW.
>
>Cable companies recognize there may be a rationale for some rate
>guidelines, but this extreme bill is bad for consumers and cable.
>THIS BILL WILL SEND YOUR RATES UP, NOT DOWN.
>
>NOW IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO STOP THE CABLE TV BILL.  To contact your
>U.S. Senators, call the U.S. Capitol Operator at 1-202-224-3121.  Or
>write you Senators in care of:  U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510.
>
>National Cable Television Association.
>
>--------end of text------------------------------------------------

Ok, here is the pertainent section to which the NCTA has so
unfavorably responded.  This text is take from Senate bill
S.12 which passed the Senate on January 31, 1992 (legislative
day Jan 30, 1992).

I have inserted my comments and understandings of certain
parts starting at the left hand margin and preceeded with
a "=)".


		RETRANSMISSION CONSENT FOR CABLE SYSTEMS

		SEC. 15.(a) Section 325 of the Communications Act
		of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325) is amended by redesignating
		subsections (b) and (c) as subsections (c) and (d), 
		respectively, and by inserting immediately after subsection (a)
		the following subsection:
		
		"(b)(1) Following the date that is one year after the
		date of enactment of this subsection, no cable system or
		other multichannel video programming distributor shall
		retransmit the signal of a broadcasting station, or any
		part thereof, without the express authority of the
		originating station, except as permitted by section 614.
		
		"(2) The provisions of this section shall not apply
		to---
		
		"(A) retransmission of the signal of a noncommercial
		broadcasting station;
		
		"(B) retransmission directly to a home satellite
		antenna of the signal of a broadcast station that
		is not owned or operated by, or affiliated with, a
		broadcast network, if such signal was
		retransmitted by a satellite carrier on May 1, 1991;
		
		"(C) retransmission of the signal of a broadcasting
		station that is owned ot operated by, or affiliated
		with, a broadcasting network directly to a
		home satellite antenna, if the household receiving
		the signal is an unserved household; or
		
		"(D) retransmission by a cable operator or
		other multichannel video programming distributor of
		the signal of a superstation if such signal was
		obtained from a satellite carrier and the originating
		station was a superstation on May 1, 1991.
		
		For purposes of this paragraph, the terms `satellite
		carrier', `superstation', and `unserved household' have the
		meanings given those terms, respectively, in section 119(d)
		of title 17, United States Code, as in effect on the date
		of enactment of this subsection.

		"(3)(A) Within 45 days after the date of enactment
		of this subsection, the Commission shall commence a 
		rulemaking proceeding to establish regulations to govern the
		exercise by television broadcast stations of the right to
		grant retransmission consent under this subsection and of
		the right to signal carriage under section 614, and such
		other regulations as are necessary to administer the 
		limitations contained in paragraph (2).  The Commisiion shall
		consider in such proceeding the impact that the grant of
		retransmission consent by television stations may have on
		the rates for basic cable service, and shall ensure that rates
		for basic cable service are reasonable.  Such rulemaking
		proceeding shall be completed within six months after its
		commencement.

=) The FCC will set standards for TV stations
=) granting permission (possibly for a fee) to
=) cable systems, and might possibly set
=) maximum rates to be charged.
		
		"(B) The regulations required by subparagraph (A)
		shall require that television stations, within one year after
		the the date of enactment of this subsection and every three
		years thereafter, make an election between the right to
		grant retransmission consent under this subsection and
		the right of signal carriage under section 614.  If there 
		is more than one cable system which services the same
		geographic area, a station's election shall apply to all such
		cable systems.

=) A TV station gets to chose if it wants to
=) force a cable company to carry it, or if
=) not, if it wants to charge the cable co.
		
		"(4) If an originating television station elects under
		paragraph (3)(B) to exercise its right to grant
		retransmission consent under this subsection with respect
		to a cable system, the provisions of section 614 shall not
		apply to the carriage of the signal of such station by such
		cable system.

=) If a TV station elects to charge for being
=) carried on the cable system, then the rules
=) in section 614 that force the cable co. to 
=) carry the TV station do not apply, and the
=) cable co. can drop the TV station from the
=) cable lineup... or arrange an agreement with
=) the TV station to allow continued coverage.
		
		"(5) The exercise by a television broadcast station of
		the right to grant retransmission consent under this 
		subsection shall not interfere with or supercede the rights
		under section 614 or 615 of any station electing to assert
		the right to signal carriage under that section.

=) A contract/agreement between the cable co. and
=) a TV station does not affect any other TV stations
=) that opt to use section 614 MUST CARRY rules.

		"(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed as
		modifying the compulsory copyright license established in
		section 111 of title 17, United States Code, or as affecting
		existing or future video programming licensing agreements
		between broadcasting stations and video programmers.".

=) I guess this means that if the TV stations do
=) charge, they will not have to pay additional
=) copyright fees unless specifically written into
=) their programming suppliers agreements????
		
		SEC. 16. Part II of title VI of the Communications
		Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 531 et seq.) is amended by inserting
		immediately after section 613 the following new
		sections:
		
		"CARRIAGE OF LOCAL COMMERCIAL TELEVISION SIGNALS

		"SEC. 614. (a) Each cable operator shall carry, on
		the cable system of that operator, the signals of local
		commercial television stations and qualified low power stations
		as provided by this section.  Carriage of additional broadcast
		television signals on such system shall be at the discretion
		of such operator, subject to section 325(b).
		
=) Otherwise, (about 10K of text follow in this 
=) part which I have decided to delete since the
=) must carry is not at issue in the NCTA letter)
=) If they are a local station, they must be carried,
=) (unless a station opts for section 325(b)(3)(B) and
=) institutes section 325(b)(4).

****************************************************************************

The above sections (along with the full text of both bills) will be
available in full once I finish typing them in (give me a week or two).
Currently, I am posting (appx 10k ea) chunks of them as I type them out
to alt.cable-tv.re-regulate.

Once I have them completed, I will make them available from an FTP site
or a mailserver.  I will post that info to the various groups that are
discussing this topic, once I get it all done.  Please don't email me 
at the present time to ask me to mail them... I am terrible about
keeping my mail organized, and will more than likely lose it.

AND, in case anyone is interested:  

I do not work for a cable company.  I do not work for a phone company.
I do not work for a video programmer.  I do not work for any alternative
video distribution company.  I do not work for people who want to bash
out all the TV sets in the world.  I do not subscribe to cable anymore.
I cancelled my cable company over a year ago when I got tired of their
little petty games.  I will not go back to them until there is regulation,
or competition in the market where I live.  If this bill does not pass both
houses in Washingon with enough votes to override Bushmans Veto (If it does
override his veto, it will break Bush's perfect veto record)  I will be 
without cable for 5 to ten years,m or however long it takes for the telco
to drop an optical fiber to my apartment.  That is my motivation.

       tweek@netcom.com  tweek@tweekco.uucp  WWIVNet 5@5058  4@5056 
          I'd rather get my cable service from the phone company,
                than my phone service from the cable company.

Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv