Competition and Access
MAP won an important victory this summer after the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge to provisions of the 1992 Cable Act that lower cable television rates and increase competition to the powerful cable monopoly. MAP filed a friend-of-the-court brief in that case on behalf of independent programmers, church, consumer and other public interest groups. Among the most significant provisions the Court upheld are those that require cable operators to sell programming on fair terms to competitors; that require cable systems to set aside channel capacity for use by unaffiliated programmers; and that require direct broadcast satellite systems to set aside capacity for use by noncommercial, educational and informational programmers.
The case is not over, however. The direct broadcast satellite providers have asked the Court to reconsider its decision to uphold the channel set-aside and the court has asked the FCC to comment on the issue. Should the court grant the reconsideration request, MAP will participate in any further proceedings.