Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Discussion Notes Part 4: Dan Coughlin - Save Access

The next member of the panel was Dan Coughlin, the director of Manhatten Neighborhood Network - the people who spearheaded the beginning of the Save Access movement.

"MNN may be the most robust public access station in this country" - Fred Johnson

Dan dove right into the two pieces of legistlation in Congress right now around telecommunications policy. First is the COPE Act, which focuses mostly on video franchise agreements and Verizon's desire to branch out into the video market. In the past, local municipality franchise fees supported PEG access stations. So basically these fees built out not only public access stations but also institutional networks, such as police and library networks. This proposed legislation strips the ability of local municipalities to negotiate their own franchise agreements.

These bills represent a huge push by telephone companies to get into the video market, without abiding by the rules of public interest. For instance, any customer service complaints will go to the FCC, who is not prepared to address them. It also re-defines revenues on which franchise fees are based (it doesn't include VOIP or even Home Shopping Network revenues). Another area that is changed by this legistlation is build-out requirements. This is where these companies want to "cherry pick" and "red line" which communites where they want to build out service only to those places where they think they will make the most profit (and not serve ALL communities). This bill doesn't address the dynamic needs of the local municipalities - you can't expect a "one size fits all" structure to benefit all communities.

But we must understand, according to Dan, that these companies such as Verizon are "fighting for their lives" and using big amounts of money to lobby for these bills. TV for Us is a astro-turf group, funded by the big telco companies, who are taking out ads claiming that the this legistlation will lead to cheaper prices and more choice for consumers. Dan pointed out several ads by these interests to shape public opinion around these issues. According to ACM, these companies are spending $1 million a day on lobbying for these bills. There is also a mass shutout of these issues in the mass media - it's because of all the ad revenue these lobbying groups are doling out.

The good news from Dan is that the folks who are PEG access users are waking up to these threats and getting organized. These folks are not progressive community activists, but they are coming together to defend this "incredible network of non-commerical, community based media outlets." A success last week was getting the New York City Council to pass a resolution to support PEG access and against the current bills in Congress. (NYC is Verizon's hometown, by the way.) Folks showed up and galvanized their city councilors to support community media. Dan is excited by this organizing, which he hasn't seen for many years. He called for people to get involved in the May 24th protests, even if it's just standing in front of a Verizon store.

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