[opendtv] Re: New transition web site
- From: "John Willkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 12:23:53 -0800
It might be interesting or amusing for you to point out what section of
copyright law you believe will give new operators of vacated spectrum
retrans rights.
More likely, upon referring to the appropriate sections, you will discover
that part 47 (Telecom) controls and Part 17 (Copyright) implements, and the
latter implementation is only of the compulsory copyright license that
pertains to cable carrying ota signals.
You might also want to review the sections of the Communications Act that
were implemented in 1992 (Over then-President Bush's veto) and the changes
that were implemented in 1996.
And, this isn't idle speculation on my part: I've read the sections guite
closely (they exclude low power from must-carry/retrans, for example), and I
was present when much of the language was modified in the last two decades.
John Willkie, not operating under an opinion, but knowledge
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Barry" <trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 9:26 AM
Subject: [opendtv] Re: New transition web site
> I won't venture any guesses about must-carry but under the current
> interpretations of copyright law I would think any newly purchased
> spectrum also effectively has retrans consent rights. That is, cable or
> satellite could likely not pirate any signal from those new channels
> without permission.
>
> - Tom
>
>
> Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> > At 11:04 AM -0500 3/7/07, Bob Miller wrote:
> >
> >> You mean that the new owners will not have gotten the spectrum for
> >> free and therefore cannot use it like broadcasters do and provide free
> >> OTA programming.
> >
> >
> > No. I mean that they will have a different cost basis for operations -
> > that they will need to recover the cost of the spectrum IN ADDITION to
> > the operating and programming costs that broadcasters must recover.
> >
> > Furthermore, this spectrum will NOT come with must carry/retransmission
> > consent rights, which means that the new operators will not have
> > millions in subscriber fee payments each year to help pay the bills,
> > UNLESS they charge fees for the services they deliver via this spectrum.
> >
> > None of this rules out free services, it just means that the new
> > spectrum users will operate at a disadvantage relative to the
> > broadcasters who get the spectrum for free and get retrans fees as well.
> >
> > Regards
> > Craig
> >
> >
> >
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>
> --
> Tom Barry trbarry@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
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