[10333] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Action Needed on Cable Rates (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (James Love)
Sat Feb 19 00:21:31 1994
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 1994 12:30:10 -0500 (EST)
From: James Love <love@essential.org>
To: com-priv@psi.com
Cc: Telecomreg <telecomreg@relay.adp.wisc.edu>
FCC to act on cable television rates
Consumers need to FAX or EMAIL the FCC to urge action on
lower rates
Consumers can respond to the FCC by email, using an email to
fax service provided free by IMS
from James Love, TAP
On tuesday, February 22, the FCC may rule on an important
matter concerning cable television rates. As you may have heard,
when Congress passed the 1992 Cable Act, the FCC was given the
responsiblity for regulating cable televison rates. This is the
first time since 1984 that cable television franchises, most of
them operating as monopolies, have faced any rate regulation.
Due largely to the fact that cable companies do not operate as
common carriers, and subscribers purchase both "content" and
"conduit" services together, the FCC has found it difficult to
write rules that the cable companies can't circumvent through
changes in programming offerings. The FCC wants to order the
cable companies to lower rates from current levels, saving
consumers more than $1 billion per year.
As you read this, cable companies have been lobbying
Congress and the F.C.C., claiming that any reducting in cable
rates will prevent the cable companies from building the nation's
information superhighway. (We are not making this up!).
It is important that you sent a short message to the FCC,
urging them to lower cable rates. In order to make it easier to
make your views known, the Internet Multicasting Service (IMS),
run by Carl Malamud <carl@radio.com>, is providing a free email
to fax service. (IMS will send your email message as a fax to
the FCC Commissioners listed below.)
Here is who should receive messages:
Chairman Reed Hundt
Telephone: +1 (202) 632-6600
Facsimile: +1 (202) 632-0163
Email:
remote-printer.Chairman_Hundt@12026320163.iddd.tpc.int
Commissioner James Quello
Telephone: +1 (202) 632-7557
Facsimile: +1 (202) 632-7173
Email:
remote-printer.Commissioner_Quello@12026327173.iddd.tpc.int
Commissioner Andrew Barrett
Telephone: +1 (202) 632-7116
Facsimile: +1 (202) 632-5168
Email:
remote-printer.Commissioner_Barrett@12026325168.iddd.tpc.int
