roundtable: PUBLIC ACCESS ACTION ALERT

roundtable: PUBLIC ACCESS ACTION ALERT

PUBLIC ACCESS ACTION ALERT

AllianceCM@aol.com
Thu, 16 Feb 1995 20:27:04 -0500 

Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 20:27:04 -0500
From: AllianceCM@aol.com
Message-Id: <950216194136_23714667@aol.com>
To: ROUNDTABLE@cni.org
Subject: PUBLIC ACCESS ACTION ALERT


P U B L I C   P O L I C Y   A C T I O N   A L E R T
I M M E D I A T E   A T T E N T I O N   R E Q U I R E D

The Alliance for Community Media has been alerted to VERY
FAST MOVING action in the Senate.  Your action on this
within the next 72 hours is vital to the future of public,
educational and government (PEG) access.

Senator Pressler (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Commerce
Committee, unveiled a draft telecommunications reform bill
on January 31.  Yesterday, on Wednesday, February 15,
Senator Hollings (D-SC), Ranking member of the Senate
Commerce Committee, unveiled HIS.  Senator Pressler's bill,
while not favorable to PEG interests, was at least not
outright inimical.  Senator Hollings' bill is actually
WORSE.  It could potentially allow cable operators to evade
the franchise by beginning to offer telephone service (the
draft is ambiguously worded, just ambiguously enough so that
a court could conceivably rule that a cable operator was no
longer a cable operator).  It also was a slap in the face to
PEG in that it offers low-cost rates on VDT to broadcast
television stations (not nonprofits by any stretch of the
imagination) but makes no allowance whatsoever for PEG
access on VDT.  

They are both bad bills, and we must respond now. 
Democratic and Republican staffers will be meeting the week
of February 20-24th to see if they can put together a
bipartisan bill.  We need to take action now to see if we
can at least preserve a little something for the non-profit
sector.  I urge you in the strongest possible terms to take
the attached letter, to photocopy it, and get it into as
many hands as possible.  By next Friday, we will have missed
the boat on this.  It is especially important to get PEG
users to sign these letters.  The best methodology would be:

* Have your users sign the letters at the Center;

* If you can afford it, fax the letters to your Senator's
Washington Office; failing that, the district office will
serve equally well;

* Set a deadline of Tuesday Night for collecting letters;

* Get the hard copies into the last Fedex on Tuesday (Monday
if you have a good collection) to the Senator's Washington
office. 

Please feel free to call me or Jeff Hops if you have any
questions.  Your help is much appreciated.  Good luck, and
THANK YOU!
_________________________________________________

SAMPLE LETTER (SUGGESTED FOR ALLIANCE MEMBERS...OTHERS FEEL
FREE TO MODIFY!):

Dear Senator:

I am a member of a local community group which regularly
utilizes our local public access center to reach out to the
greater community.  As you may know, public, educational and
governmental "(PEG)" access serves the churches, elementary
and secondary schools, libraries, YMCAs, American Legion
chapters, Chambers of Commerce, and other non-profits and
charities in our state and acts as a vital link between
private service providers and service utilizers.

I am extremely concerned that BOTH Commerce Committee
Chairman Larry Pressler's draft telecommunications reform
bill and Ranking Member Hollings' draft bill could severely
harm PEG access.  Both drafts allow phone companies to
provide "video dialtone" (VDT) service.  This phone company-
provided cable substitute is virtually identical to cable
television.  However, unlike cable, VDT providers would not
be required to obtain a franchise under either bill. 
Current law empowers franchise authorities to ask for PEG
access, facilities, equipment and services from cable
operators.  A law which does not impose the same or similar
requirement on VDT would work against regulatory parity, and
punish cable operators and the town I live in for providing
this vital public service.

I am particularly distressed that the Democratic draft
offers low, "incremental-cost" based rates to broadcast
television stations, while making no such allowance for PEG
access.  I simply cannot understand why broadcast television
stations, which are profitable commercial entities, should
be entitled to low-cost access, while local non-profit
community organizations like mine will be forced to pay
commercial rates to speak to our communities.  I urge you to
work for an amendment to the Hollings bill which would
require incremental-cost access to PEG centers covered by
Section 611 of the Cable Act, and would require a
"franchise-like" fee to pay for the facilities, equipment
and services that make such access possible.   

While Senator Pressler's draft clearly states that cable
operators will continue to be subject to franchising
authorities, Senator Hollings' draft is ambiguous about that
-- it could potentially open the door to evasion by present
and future cable operators, who may begin offering minimal
telecommunications services to remove themselves from the
jurisdiction of the local franchise authority.  I strongly
believe that all providers of television by wire should be
subject to PEG requirements.  Cable operators should not be
able to opt out by offering telephone service.  Any
ambiguity on this point should be remedied -- Sec. 202 of
the Pressler draft is quite clear on this point.

Finally, I urge you to work to extend the benefits of
incremental-cost based universal service to PEG centers. 
PEG centers now in operation are a model for the future of
the information superhighway, offering "one-stop shopping"
for a wide range of informational and interactive services. 
Senator Hollings' draft proposes that incremental-cost based
rates for universal service be extended to a variety of
"community users."  I believe that PEG centers should be
explicitly included in this group.  This non-commercial
access to the information superhighway is essential for
smaller charitable and nonprofit organizations like mine to
empower themselves and provide efficient community service
in the electronic age.  

I understand that Republican and Democratic Senate staffers
are currently meeting to work out differences between the
two bills.  I urge you to consider the needs of your
constituents as you consider this important legislation
which could drastically affect, not just the
telecommunications industry, but actual users of the
information superhighway.   I look forward to your response.

                                        Sincerely, etc. 			

(Include organizational affiliation and HOME address)

_________________________________________________

National Office
Alliance for Community Media
666 11th Street, NW, Suite 806
Washington, DC 20001-4542

Voice:	(202) 393-2650
Fax:		(202) 393-2653
E-mail:	AllianceCM @ aol.com

"Ensuring everyone's access to electronic media
since 1976."

Barry Forbes, Executive Director

"Do what's right. Do it right. Do it right now."
_________________________________________________

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