California passes bill easing cable rules
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California's legislature passed a  bill on Thursday night aimed at increasing competition among  cable television providers and easing the ability of telephone  companies to enter the market.
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The U.S. House of Representatives on  Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation to hike fines to as  much as $500,000 on broadcasters and entertainers who violate  decency limits on air.
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The Federal Communications  Commission has approved new rules giving broadcasters more  flexibility in making the switch to digital television from  traditional analog signals.
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Legislation to free hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies for school Internet connections that had been frozen by a change in accounting rules won final approval on Wednesday from the U.S. Congress.
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By Michael Martz, Richmond Times-Dispatch  Feb. 16--A City Council committee voted unanimously last night to let the state's largest telephone company bring cable TV competition to most homes in Richmond.
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By Jim Wyss, The Miami Herald  Mar. 4--One of the most well-funded battles of the last legislative session is heating up again as the cable industry and telephone companies face off over the right to provide cable TV service.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Congress may take another crack at net neutrality and related broadband legislation when it returns from a month-long recess next week, but some observers aren't laying odds on either package passing. In June, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved a wide-ranging broadband bill and the House of Representatives passed its own broadband bill. Both bills would streamline the franchising process telecommunications carriers need to go through to offer Internet Protocol-based television in competition with cable TV. However, both the committee and the House rejected attempts to strengthen net neutrality requirements in the bills. TheÂ battle lines over net neutrality have, if anything, become more defined since those votes, and some people involved in the broadband debate say the legislation is unlikely to pass in a highly politicized election year. Supporters of the broadband bill had hoped to get a vote in the full Senate before its August recess, but Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, placed a hold on the bill, threatening to filibuster it unless stronger net neutrality provisions were added. Wyden wants the Senate to prohibit large broadband providers such as AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp. from blocking or slowing Web content from competitors. This week, a Wyden spokeswoman said the hold is still on the bill. "We will not lift it until there are strong net neutrality provisions in the bill," she said. Neither side has offered a net neutrality compromise during the August congressional recess, said a spokesman of one organization involved in the debate. TheÂ net neutrality debate has turned largely into a partisan issue, at least on Capitol Hill. Many Democrats have sided with consumer groups and many large e-commerce companies backing a strong net neutrality requirement. Many Republicans have backed the large broadband providers and network equipment vendors opposed to a new law. Congressional leaders have targeted Oct. 6 as the adjournment date for the year. The entire House and one third of the Senate is up for re-election in November, and many observers say it will be difficult to pass controversial legislation during the last days of the congressional session. If the legislation doesn't pass this year, the new Congress would have to start over with a new broadband bill in 2007. Net neutrality advocates say the future of an open Internet is at risk after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Supreme Court last year removed requirements that large broadband providers share their networks with competing Internet service providers. But opponents argue new regulations aren't needed because there's little evidence of broadband providers blocking Web content. Broadband providers need the flexibility to offer services such as video on separate, clutter-free networks, they say, and they should be free to investigate new pricing models in which they charge Web sites new fees for faster customer access. During the August congressional recess, net neutrality advocates hosted rallies in 25 U.S. cities, including New York, Detroit, Denver and Baltimore, and delivered petitions to lawmakers. Net neutrality advocates also used blogs and video sharing Web sites like YouTube to argue their point. As of Friday morning, there were 182 YouTube videos with "net neutrality" as keywords; most of them support a net neutrality law. The SaveTheInternet.com coalition has collected 1.1 million signatures in support of net neutrality, and it counts 26 senators who now support a net neutrality law and 14 who oppose one. "We think the momentum has swung to our side over the break," said Jim McGann, a spokesman for the It's Our Net coalition, another net neutrality advocacy group. "From where I stand, the grassroots support is building." At the same time, many employees of broadband providers and members of the labor union Communications Workers of America have contacted lawmakers and voiced opposition to a net neutrality law, said Mike McCurry, co-chairman of the Hands off the Internet coalition, representing companies opposed to a net neutrality law. And groups advocating for more cable TV competition have told lawmakers to push ahead with the broadband bill, said McCurry, once a press secretary for former U.S. President Bill Clinton. "This [bill] will stimulate competition and drive down prices, and why wouldn't we want to do that?" McCurry said. Even though net neutrality advocates have organized a "commendable" grassroots campaign, the majority of U.S. residents are unfamiliar with the net neutrality issue, McCurry said. They understand, however, that increased competition for cable TV could benefit them. "If you walk into any shopping mall and hold up a net neutrality sign, I don't expect you're going to get a response," McCurry said. "People just don't understand it." It's difficult to predict if Congress will act on the broadband bill before early October, he added. "This is one bill that could move because there's been action [in Congress]," he said. "If anything goes, this is set to go." REFERENCES:Battle lines drawn over net neutrality, Jul. 11, 2006Net neutrality in a nutshell, Jul. 17, 2006
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OCEANSIDE, California  - California's Senate   passed a bill on Wednesday night aimed at increasing   competition among cable television providers and easing the   ability of telephone companies to enter the market.
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Legislation to temporarily ban taxing Internet access is poised for approval this week after the US Senate approved the legislation and worked out wording acceptable to Congress.
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By O'Malley, Chris  Lawmakers last spring made it easier for AT&T, Verizon and big phone companies to get into the video business now ruled by cable TV operators.
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Telephone companies could get a major boost today in their efforts to penetrate the cable television market when the Federal Communications Commission considers a measure that would give state and local officials less latitude in awarding cable franchises.
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By Jason Rosenbaum, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.  Feb. 17--JEFFERSON CITY -- The Missouri Senate gave initial approval Thursday to a bill that would shift licensing of cable TV companies from the cities where they operate to the Missouri Public Service Commission.
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The US Senate approved modifications to the Internet Tax Non-Discrimination Act Friday, clearing the way for House passage of the bill that would prevent taxing online purchases.
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The US Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved a measure that would provide up to $1 billion to ensure consumers can still watch television when broadcasters switch to new, crisp digital signals.
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The television industry scores an amendment to a bill that would have forced them to give up lots of valuable spectrum to emergency workers. The change all but guts the bill. Michael Grebb reports from Washington.
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The House has given final congressional approval to a bill that bans state and local governments from taxing Internet connections for the next three years.
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California's Senate  passed a bill on Wednesday night aimed at increasing  competition among cable television providers and easing the  ability of telephone companies to enter the market.