Time For Some Hot Bi-Partisan Action on Cable

TIME FOR SOME HOT BI-PARTISAN ACTION ON CABLE
[SOURCE: Tales from the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission may soon invoke the "70/70" provision to justify regulating cable systems in the name of diversity. But some normally sensible people are buying into the cable spin that this is somehow bad because (choose however many apply): A) It’s an “archaic leftover” of another time and nowadays cable is “highly competitive.” B) It’s not really true that the 70/70 test is met anyway so the courts will just reverse it. C) Kevin Martin is an evil Bellhead who has it in for cable, wants to deregulate broadcast media, and shafted local franchising authorities, so you know this must somehow be evil, even though it is something media reform advocates have fought for over 20 years to achieve. D) Somehow, this is just an effort to distract us from the fact that Kevin Martin is an evil Bellhead who eats puppies and throws kittens into trees for his amusement. E) Martin is just slapping the cable guys around because they didn't do family tier. G) Somehow this helps Kevin Martin deregulate the broadcast industry. Having spent the last several years trying to get the FCC to recognize the [goshdarn] truth that 70/70 was met years ago, and trying to get the FCC to address leased access and carriage complaint issues, the 30% cable ownership cap, and a bunch of other reforms to address cable market power, I am just a shade peeved to see folks who should know better eating out of NCTA’s hand. Rather than waste the best chance at cracking cable market power in the last 20 years and give Martin a political victory anyway, the only sensible thing to do is vote for the items and make it clear that doing the right thing in cable over here doesn't give Martin a pass on previous bad Orders (like preempting local franchise authority) or give a license to deregulate broadcast ownership.
http://www.wetmachine.com/totsf/item/891