Will public access TV go dark?

[SOURCE: AM New York, AUTHOR: Michael Clancy]
People who present their TV shows on public access cable channels nationwide could be silenced if and when cable TV is made available on a nationwide franchising basis. Nationwide, some 1.2 million volunteers and 250,000 community groups who produce the grassroots programming could be blacked out. "There's an African proverb that says 'When the elephants fight, the grass gets trampled,'" said Anthony Riddle of the Alliance of Community Media, a group dedicated to preserving public access nationwide. Phone companies argue that the 30,000 franchise agreements that cable companies have negotiated with municipalities are simply too burdensome. It's those franchise agreements that give municipalities leeway in negotiations because cable companies use public right of way to run their lines. Cities and towns get a chunk of cable revenue and bandwidth as part of those agreements. But the system has been shaken by rapid technological change. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has been rendered nearly obsolete by high-speed Internet connections. In short, the law must be and will be changed -- the question is how, and that outcome will shape the fate of public access TV.
http://www.amny.com/news/local/newyork/am-tv0221,0,7968934.story