[CS-FSLUG] NI: YOU CAN HELP PROTECT RELIGIOUS TELEVISION

[David Aikema]

Should this be an issue that requires government enforcement, or an
issue over which one should be contacting one's local cable company if
that is the sort of programming that you think they should be
carrying?

Secondly, if this "multicast must-carry" provision were to be
included, would these cable companies be required to pay for their
feed from the local broadcaster, or would this feed be supplied free
of charge (or at cost of connectivity) and the broadcaster's costs
made up exclusively through advertising?  I'm not a fan of
corporations being required by law to subsidize other corporations.

I suppose that at the moment most cable companies have monopolies in
their region of operation (or de-facto monopolies), so this may put
things in somewhat of a new light.  However, I think that telephone
companies are also currently looking at supplying television feeds
themselves, so this may provide some consumer choice in the
not-so-distant future.  Additionally, if the station is a local one
and the cable company doesn't carry it, then if someone were to want
to view the station, then they might be able to receive the station's
broadcast signal.  That seems to negate the argument that a failure to
introduce such a measure would muzzle free speech.

For the most part, anyways, TVs are probably better left off.

David