Thanks to the Rob McCausland of the ACM for forwarding this to us.
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTERNET HEARING ENTITLED, "PUBLIC EDUCATION, AND GOVERNMENTAL (PEG) SERVICES IN THE DIGITAL TV AGE"

link

Note: Congressmen/women discuss how PEG access is now providing important local coverage that NO ONE else is providing.

C-SPAN COPYRIGHT POLICY

C-SPAN holds the exclusive copyright in the video of all the public affairs programming it produces.

Although C-SPAN is the only news media organization that regularly televises the legislative proceedings of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, it does not hold a copyright in that video coverage. That government-produced video is in the public domain which means that it belongs to the American people and may be used without restrictions of any kind.

As part of its mission to make the activities of the federal government more broadly available, C-SPAN has established a copyright policy that allows the public to use C-SPAN's video coverage of federal government events for their own purposes. Those who want to use C-SPAN copyrighted video will be able to do so without concern about further copyright restrictions as long as they adhere to the following policy:

# C-SPAN permits non-commercial use of its video coverage of federal government-sponsored events so long as C-SPAN is identified during the use as the source of the video.

# Keeping a "C-SPAN" logo on the screen during the use is sufficient to identify C-SPAN as the source.

# This generally unrestrictive policy regarding non-commercial use does not apply to (i) original programs created by C-SPAN, (ii) video coverage of privately sponsored events, and (iii) video coverage of other events not sponsored by the federal government.

# C-SPAN does not permit unlicensed commercial use of any of its video programming regardless of whether the use cites C-SPAN as the source of the video. Commercial uses of C-SPAN video may be permitted under an individually negotiated license for which a license fee may be due. [See Licensing and Permissions Requests]

# Nothing in this copyright policy is intended to affect any person's right to make a "fair use" of C-SPAN video programming.

To me, the following article is a warning that the city of Worcester should be paying attention and solidify a franchise before things shift against municipal and the PEG channel use of broadband. I have read that already Charter and Comcast have suggested they will follow suit. Net Neutrality must exist in order for PEG to remain on the Internet.
If we loose this, depending upon the use of the Internet to reach out and connect could be more costly than ever.

I am sharing this, with thanks, as it appears to be posted by Kim Peterson (Moneyblog Topstocks) and later presented on the ACM's list serve by Ron Beacom.
Time Warner trial ends flat-rate Internet fees

MD

Cable Competition? Note to city: Be careful what you wish for.

Mike from MNN writes: According to our math, Verizon jacked their cable TV rates 7.5% last year and they now project another 11.5 rate increase this year.
Apparently "Competition = Higher Prices". Hopefully the FCC and those folks in Congress will take note . . .

Read more here
also this By Mike Robuck CedMagazine.com .

Do you think, that it when comes to comparing cable and phone companies, they really are, pretty much, all the same? Rates continue to go up and up. So much for competition. It seems that rate controls, and franchise mandates and regulations are the only way to go. Tell congress to protect local franchises and especially provisions to support Public access.

FROM ANTHONY Riddle ACM:
Anthony writes
"1) That article...written on PAPER!?!?

2) "Waynes World"? We have trained a generation of new producers who were born AFTER "Wayne's World" hit SNL around October 1988. They'd be about 19, typically media active and might not have ever heard of Wayne.

3) Trade Access for You-Tube? That's like closing the public park because your neighbors have a back-yard.

4) Or ending public transportation because some people have cars. (My home town LA did that and you see what happened.)

5) Or trading the ocean for a million cups of saltwater.

I have begun to imagine a concert in a stadium with with 50,000 fans all listening to the same song on 50,000 I-Pods in a deeply shared silence. And then I think, however nice that glow is, it is no substitute for the twinkle of ancient stars.

(And tell me again, why do we react so strongly to someone who writes on PAPER that perhaps our medium is quaint?)"

My Two cents:
Our Public Access Channels of distribution do not have to be limited to cable only. We are fighting for expanded definition and legislative latitude to support a much broader bands of distribution. Our Public Access content deserves to be seen on broadcast, cable, the web, phone systems, via satellite, and whatever else will be invented. PEG needs to be supported through government mandates to enable such capacity for each and every center. Other channels such as YouTube , Blip, PEG channel websites and links, print media, radio, etc., can be tools to promote and encourage use of our facilities as well as outreach on behalf of community producers and journalist. I see public access as a community media clearinghouse of sorts. Why every Legislator or government office holder ( on the Fed, State and Local level) doesn't support that position whole heartedly is a mystery to me. It should be a no brainer .

PUBLIC ACTION NEEDED!
EMAIL/CALL CONGRESS TO STOP FCC!
(FCC DN MB 05-311)
The Alliance for Community Media has set up a site to make it easy for you, your friends, relatives and supporters to write your Congressional delegation. Congress needs to know that the FCC is on the verge of taking Congressional power as they rewrite cable law. It is important for Congress to know that their constituents are active in community media and that you are ready to fight.

The rules of this process are written against your interests. You are not allowed to call or write the FCC right now, but your Congress-members can.

Being written out of the law by the FCC:

· Support for Public, Education and Government Access Channels: GONE!
· Channel capacity for Public, Education and Government Access Channels from new providers. GONE!
· Your city's right to reasonable payment by the telephone and cable companies who make billions of dollars using public land. GONE!
· Your city's public safety and educational communication systems. GONE!
The rules will be rewritten Wednesday. Only your Congress-members can stop the FCC now. Tell them to support your community. Tell them to forward your concerns to the FCC NOW!

For easy email message, click here.

Please circulate this call to action far and wide.