Save Access

from: Nashville Post

General Assembly committee chief won't sponsor AT&T reform bill

09-25-2007

House Commerce Committee Chairman Charles Curtiss told NashvillePost.com this morning he will neither sponsor nor cosponsor legislation for video-services franchise reform during the next session of the General Assembly.

Note: This is off topic in a way, but useful information since most consumer complaints relate to either cable or telephone companies (or both). And you could, say, target AT&T with questions about why they are selling out your consumer loyalty (however misplaced) to the NSA (this also applies to Verizon hostages as well). Also check the comments from the source link below - some enlightening twists to the this particular approach to social engineering.

from: The Consumerist

How To Launch An Executive Email Carpet Bomb

Here's a classic tactic for rattling the corporate monkey tree to make sure your complaint gets shoved under the nose of someone with decision-making powers. Let's call it the "EECB," or Executive Email Carpet Bomb...

from: Chicago Tribune

AT&T applies for video permit
Company seeks state approval of franchise

By Jon Van

Tribune staff reporter

September 25, 2007

Although still a few months away from offering competitive video service in Illinois, AT&T on Monday applied to the state for a video franchise under a law enacted in June.

from: Hernando Today

Are public access TV channels on the way out here?
By JOHN HERBERT
Published: Sep 24, 2007

Whenever we have an opportunity to grab something for "only" about one dollar a month, our anticipated reaction to most bargain-basement offers is usually to say, "yes, please."

from: Oberlin Review

Stand Up for Local Media

September 21, 2007
By Namrata Kolachalam

Traditional news sources are facing a growing crisis and their response has been nothing short of infuriating. Rather than adapting to shrinking newspaper circulations, the emergence of YouTube and soaring ratings of The Daily Show with innovation, it appears that the conglomerates would rather spend their money on stifling free speech. Their attitude seems to be, “Why fix a problem when you can simply eliminate the competition?” It’s a lesson they apparently learned from watching The Godfather.

Note: As the FCC and many states rush to give the telcos favorable video franchising legislation, we still wonder why consumers (i.e citizens) would want to receive phone, data and video services from companies that they know can monitor and provide government agencies with surveillance information on their phone/data activities and TV viewing habits.

from: NewsWeek

from: News Herald

State takes control of cable TV franchises

David S. Glasier
DGlasier@News-Herald.com
09/24/2007

Department of Commerce now awards state television and wire-video franchises

The channel is changed in the Buckeye State.
Beginning today, the Ohio Department of Commerce assumes responsibility for awarding cable TV franchises and wire-video franchises such as AT&T U-verse.

from: KOMU TV

"CAT" May Say Goodbye

COLUMBIA - Imagine watching your favorite TV show and all of a sudden the screen goes black- off the air. That's just what may happen to Columbia's cable access channel.

The cameras and equipment are enough to give anyone a hunger for the limelight. At Stephens Hall, a room downstairs is starving for cash.

from: Post Tribune

Public access unplugged
September 22, 2007

By Andy Grimm Post-Tribune staff writer
Public access channels across Northwest Indiana may go dark later this month as local leaders look for a way to extend the 20-plus season run of local, low production-value programming.

For more than two decades, cable TV subscribers have had a slate of locally-produced shows that spanned the gamut from high-minded (town council meetings and local political commentary) to lowbrow (pop culture phenomena such as "Jackass").

from: Broadcasting and Cable

Kevin Martin's Date with (Digital) Destiny

FCC Chairman Discusses Upcoming Digital-TV Transition, His Detractors and Why He's Not Running for Governor of North Carolina

By John Eggerton
Broadcasting & Cable, 9/22/2007 6:00:00 AM

Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin, who is rumored to have political aspirations in his home state of North Carolina and could always beat an early retreat to a private-sector payday, said he plans to be around Feb. 17, 2009, when the transition to digital TV takes place.