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Note: This AP wire story reads like a Telcom press release, quoting only majority leaders and astroturf spokesperson Mike McCurry.

Lawmakers promise lower cable bills under telecom bill

JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Monopolies in many cable TV markets could end under House-passed legislation that supporters said would increase competition and drive down prices.

The far-reaching telecommunications legislation, passed 321-101 Thursday night, would encourage telephone companies and others to enter video markets by scrapping the time-consuming system where prospective providers must negotiate individually with every locality.

from:XChange mag

House Passes COPE Act to Dismay of Consumer, Competitive Carrier Advocates
By Kelly M. Teal
Posted on: 06/08/2006

The House, just after 10 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, passed the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act without the net neutrality provisions advocates had worked hard to get representatives to adopt.

from: Broadcasting & Cable

House Passes Video Franchise Reform

By John Eggerton
6/8/2006 9:56:00 PM

House energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton Thursday delivered on his half of a promise to pass video franchise reform in this session of Congress.

By a vote of 321 to 101, including a majority of both Republicans (215-8) and Democrats (106-92), the House Thursday night passed a bill that will make it easier for telcos to get into video by establishing a national franchising scheme that potentially deeds more oversight of video franchising to the FCC and federal courts.

from: Net Pro News

Net Neutrality Up For Vote; Follow The Money
Jason Lee Miller Staff Writer
2006-06-08

Today or Friday, the House of Representatives will be debating and voting on proposed Net Neutrality amendments to the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006, a bill that will grant sweeping powers to telecommunications and cable companies to set up a tollbooth Internet.

from: Broadband Reports Please see the source for links to supporting documents. The recent AT&T lawsuits trace back to a history (since 2003) of SBC/AT&T fighting the city over their attempts to offer municipal broadband. Apparently this huge corporation hold nasty grudges.

Interview: Fighting AT&T
Peter Collins, IS Manager for Geneva, Illinois

from: SF Gate

David Lazarus

AT&T gets more for less
06/07/2006

If you're an AT&T long-distance customer and you don't make a lot of calls, there's a good chance your monthly bill will be going up as a result of new "minimum usage" fees.

AT&T says on its Web site that long-distance customers "enjoy great rates usually with a small or no monthly plan fee." It says it needs to charge (or in some cases increase) monthly minimum usage fees "in order to keep these rates low and still recover our costs of providing basic service."

From: Defend Your Voice

ACTION ALERT - UPDATE ON H.5252 COPE ACT
House Rules Committee Sticks It To US!
We got hosed!

Its bad enough that the House Rules Committee did not allow the Baldwin/Wilson "Do No Harm" Amendment to even be presented on the House Floor for a vote, but to add insult to injury they did allow an Amendment by Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas which, if passed, cuts PEG/I-Net funding from 1% to 0.5% if the video provider is a minority or woman owned business.

Last update: Monday, June 12
HR 5252-COPE passes by a margin of 321-101
Nearly all Republicans and a majority of the Democrats voted for the Resolution and the interests of their corporate patrons, the telephone companies. The net neutrality amendment was defeated and was excluded from this bill. The final resolution with the attached amendments is not just bad - it's ridiculously bad. We can only hope the Senate will act with greater integrity, truthfulness and foresight.

Note: This is an dangerous development in the telco push for State Video Franchises. AT&T and Verizon attempted to make this artificial distinction in the House Bill (HR 5252), but even Congressional Representatives wouldn't buy it (though COPE Bill sponsor Rep. Barton did entertain it). In any event, one can only wonder if the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control is now a subsidiary of AT&T or just completely unaware of ongoing Federal legislation.

Note: As we pointed out earlier when the McCain Draft was released; this is an utterly bizarre development in the telecommunications policy world of the Senate. Why would 'a la Carte' cable packages be attached to franchise fees - the two issues are unrelated.

McCain's Bill gives video providers (telcos and cablecos) a huge payoff for providing 'a la Carte'. The Public gets the same commercial fare only rearranged, but at the expense and loss of public, educational and governnmental programming (PEG). McCain's 'a la Carte' will all but eliminate local noncommercial programming offerings around the country. This Bill is misguided and misinformed.