From: tweek@netcom.com (Michael D. Maxfield)
Subject: S-12 part 2/?
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 17:38:30 GMT
Organization: Movement to Ban or Re-Regulate the CABLE MONOPOLIES
Distribution: usa


(part 2 of ?)

STATEMENT OF POLICY
SEC. 3.  It is the policy of the Congress in this Act
to---

(1) promote the availability to the public of a
diversity of views and information through cable
television and other video distribution media;

(2) rely on the marketplace, to the maximum
extent feasible, to achieve that availability;

(3) ensure that cable operators continue to
expand, where economically justified, their capacity
and the programs offered over their cable systems;

(4) where cable television systems are not subject
to effective competition, ensure that consumer
interests are protected in receipt of cable service;
and

(5) ensure that cable television operators do not
have undue market power vis-a-vis video programmers
and consumers.

DEFINITIONS
SEC. 4. (a) Section 602 of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 522) is amended by redesignating
paragraph (1) as paragraph (2), by redesignating paragraphs
(2) and (3) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively,
by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (10) as
paragraphs (7) through (13), respectively, by redesignating
paragraphs (11) and (12) as paragraphs (16) and (17),
resectively, by redesignating paragraph (13) as paragraph
(19), by redesignating paragraphs (14) and (15) as
paragraphs (23) and (24), respectively, and by redesignating
paragraph (16) as paragraph (28).

(b) Section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 522), as amended by this section, is further
amended by inserting immediately before paragraph (2),
as so redesignated, the following new paragraph:

"(1) the term `activated channels' means those
channels engineered at the headend of a cable system
for the provision of services generally available
to residential subscribers of the cable system,
regardless of whether such services actually are
provided, including any channel designated for public,
educational, or governmental use;".

(c) Section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 522), as amended by this section, is further
amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (2), as
so redesignated, the following new paragraph:

"(3) the term `available to a household' or
`available to a home' when used in reference to a
multichannel video programming distributor means a
particular household which is a subscriber or
customer of the distributor or a particular household
which is actively and currently sought as a subscriber
or customer by a multichannel video programming
distributor;".

(d) Section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 522), as amended by this section, is further
amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (5), as
so redesignated, the following new paragraph:

"(6) the term `cable community' means the
households in the geographic area in which a cable
system provides cable service;".

(e) Section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 522), as amended by this section, is further
amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (13),
as so redesignated, the following new paragraphs:

"(14) the term `headend' means the location of
any equipment of a cable system used to process the
signals of television broadcast stations for
redistribution to subscribers;                  

"(15) the term `multichannel video programming
distributor' means a person such as, but not
limited to, a cable operator, or a multichannel
multipoint distribution service, a direct broadcast
satellite service, or a television receive-only satellite
program distributor, who makes available for purchase,
by subscribers or customers, multiple channels
of video programming;".

(f) Section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 522), as amended by this section, is further
amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (17),
as so redesignated, the following new paragraph:

"(18) the term `principal headend' means--

"(A) the headend, in the case of a cable
system with a single headend, or

"(B) in the case of a cable system with
more than one headend, the headend designated
by the cable operator to the Commission as the
principal headend, except that such designation
shall not undermine or evade the requirements
of section 614;".

(g) Section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 522), as amended by this section, is further 
amended by inserting immediatly after paragraph (19),
as so redesignated, the following new paragraphs:

"(20)(A) the term `local commercial television
station' means any full power television broadcast
station, determined by the Commission to be a
commercial station, licensed and operating on a channel
regularly assigned to its community by the Commission
that, with respect to a particular cable system,
is within the same television market as the cable
system (for purposes of this subparagraph, a television
broadcasting station's television market shall be
defined as specified in section 73.35555(d) of title 47,
Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on May 1,
1991, except that, following a written request, the
Commission may, with respect to a particular
television broadcast station, include or exclude
communities from such stations television market to better
effectuate the purposes of this Act);

"(B) where such a television broadcast station
would, with respect to a particular cable system, be
considered a distant signal under section 111 of title
17, United States Code, it shall be deemed to be a
local commercial television station upon agreement
to reimburse the cable operator for the incremental
copyright costs assessed against such operator as a
result of being carried on the cable system;

"(C) the term `local commercial television station'
shall not include television translator stations
and other passive repeaters which operate pursuant
to part 74 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations,
or any successor regulations thereto;

(21) the term `qualified noncommercial educational
television station' means any television
broadcast station which---

"(A)(i) under the rules and regulations of
the Commission in effect on March 29, 1990, is
licensed by the Commission as a noncommercial
educational television broadcast station and
which is owned and operated by a public agency,
nonprofit foundation, corporation, or 
association; or

"(ii) is owned or operated by a municipality
and transmits only noncommercial programs
for educational purposes; or

"(B) has as its license an entity which is
eligible to receive a community service grant, or
any successor grant thereto, from the 
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or any
successor organization thereto, on the basis of the
formula set forth in section 396(k)(6)(B) (47
U.S.C. 396(k)(6)(B));

such term includes (I) the translator of any
noncommercial educational television station with five
watts or higher power serving the cable community,
(II) a full service station or translator if such station
or translator is licensed to a channel reserved for
noncommercial educational use pursuant to section
73.606 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or
any successor regulations thereto, and (III) such
stations and translators operating on channels not
so reserved as the Commission determines are
qualified as noncommercial educational stations;

"(22) the term `qualified low power station'
means any television broadcast station conforming to
the rules established for Low Power Television Stations
contained in part 74 of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations, only if---

(A) such station broadcasts during at least
the minimum number of hours of operation required 
by the commission for television broadcast 
stations under part 73 of title 47, Code of
Federal Regulations, and a significant part of
their programming, in an amount to be determined
by the commission, is locally originated
and produced;

"(B) such station meets all obligations and
requirements applicable to television broadcast
stations under part 73 of title 47, Code of Federal
Regulations, with respect to the broadcast
of nonentertainment programming; programming
and rates involving political candidates,
election issues, controversial issues of public
importance, editorials, and personal attacks; 
programming for children; and equal employment
opportunity;

"(C) such station complies with interference
regulations consistent with their secondary
status pursuant to part 74 of title 47, Code
of Federal Regulations; and

"(D) such station is located no more than
35 miles from the cable system's headend, or no
more than 20 miles if the low power station is
located within one of the 50 largest Standard
Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and delivers to
the input terminals of the signal processing
equipment at the cable system headend a signal
level of -45 dBm for UHF stations and -49
dBm for VHF stations;

(h) Section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 522), as ammended by this section, is further
amended---

(1) by striking "and" at the end of paragraph
(24), as so redesignated; and

(2) by inserting immediately after such 
paragraph (24) the following new paragraphs:

"(25) the term `usable activated channels'
means activated channels of a cable system, except
those channels whose use for the distribution of
broadcast signals would conflict with technical and
safety regulations as determined by the Commission;

"(26) the term `video programmer' means a
person engaged in the production, creation, or
wholesale distribution of a video programming
service for sale;

"(27) the term `Line 21 closed caption' means
a data signal which, when decoded, provides a visual
depiction of information simultaneously being
presented on the aural channel of a television signal;
and".

****************************** END OF PART 2/? *********************


Newsgroups: alt.cable-tv.re-regulate