Congress Poised to Kill Community TV

CONGRESS POISED TO KILL COMMUNITY TV
[SOURCE: The Nation, AUTHOR: Jeff Chester]
[Commentary] Congress is about to strike a blow that would eliminate the last remaining policy insuring local oversight of communications companies. A GOP-led effort on behalf of the telephone lobby (principally Verizon and AT&T), also backed by many Democrats, is about to toss in the dustbin the longstanding policy enabling cities or counties to negotiate a "franchise" agreement with companies that provide cable TV service. A key House committee is poised to pass legislation that would strip away the rights of communities to have any say in how phone and cable networks serve them in the digital era. Little has been written in the mainstream press about what the potential loss of cable franchising will mean. Franchises have required special networks to be built, connecting public buildings with advanced communications services and assisting education and public safety. All of this has been possible because local authorities had the power of renewing the cable franchise deal every ten years or so (as well as approving transfers of ownership as media giants were bought and sold). It's time for progressives to take a stand against the broadband banditry of Congress and the cable-telecom cartel. Any Internet-era telecommunications legislation should insure local control, provide low-income Americans with residential Internet service, protect online privacy, and keep the Internet open and free from the control of big cable and phone companies. Such legislation should also help develop a noncommercial digital commons designed to promote civil society (as opposed to the madcap commercialism that will run rampant on the broadband networks). In that way, we can honor the vision -- and the political work -- of activists in decades past who strove for a democratically run "community communications" system.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060508/congress_kills_community_tv

* CWA: Don't change franchise system
http://www.libn.com/article.htm?articleID=34879