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calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| reply to SRFireside
Re: You want others to pay for your speech--why?
said by SRFireside  :Everybody has a right to be heard. Maybe not on television, but they have that right. You have a problem with your government? You have the right to speak up and bear your grievances. ... Sorry, despite all of the various wordplay above, I have to point out that a re-reading of the First Amendment is in order.
The First Amendment provides for freedom of speech, but it separately provides for the right to petition the government. The second right is what gives you a right "to be heard" by the government; the points made above that you have no right to necessarily be "heard" by non-governmental entities including corporations and individuals (as well as cable companies and their subscribers) are correct.
In some locations (including, to a limited degree, shopping centers) the courts have indicated that space and/or access should be made available for free speech when those locations effectively replace the "town center" concept thought of by the Founders of constitutional government. To date (thankfully) no such court has held that cable TV is such a "replacement", and no such court probably ever will--if such arguments are made in the future, they will likely focus on the Internet, not on cable TV channel allocation.
As we (in the free world) have not yet reached limits on website addresses, speech remains very free on the Internet--but the situation differs because both a) there are limitations on basic cable TV channel allocation, and b) nobody is saying ISPs should be forced to fund website development or hosting on behalf of "community organizations".
As I've said elsewhere, this isn't about "free speech." It's about the creation of a political empire funded by governmental fiat, but one outside of the normal budgetary process and hidden from any sort of accountability. It's most prominent allegiance is to those local politicians who support it, and it's a politically incestuous setup.
calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | |
SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX
| I don't know how public access is used in your community... well strike that. The way you have been talking about tells me public access in your area is not much more than a soundboard for political activism. Am I right? Sorry if that's the case. Public access where I saw it had shows ranging from that crazy political activist (such as the dude from www.infowars.com) finding conspiracies in every corner, massage therapy instructional shows, two goth girls taking phones calls, student films of all kinds including really weird ones, amateur VJ's with their music video showcase, live acts performing around town as well as in the TV studio, film footage of downtown festivals, religious talk shows (both fundie and moderate), Wayne's World-esque nonsense, and more.
Maybe from what you are seeing in your town public access is the creation of a political empire. In other places it's just as described: a town square. Unless you can show actual dollars being put into public access I don't think the hidden budget theory of yours holds water (refer to another post of mine as to why I think so). Lets also not forget the cable companies AGREED to support public access channels when they got their exclusive franchise for the area.
So really there are two things you are contending with: You being charged fees to support public access and what is exactly being funded. As far as fees you are already paying for channels you don't want in cable. What's the difference here? How much is exactly coming out of your pocket to pay for public access? Regarding the latter I think we covered that and if your community is using public access for more dubious plans I suggest you take that up with your local government. That's not inherent in PB itself. It's seems to be just what varies from city to city. | |
B
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-28
| said by SRFireside :Lets also not forget the cable companies AGREED to support public access channels when they got their exclusive franchise for the area. Well, that point alone makes your argument. They shouldn't be weaseling out of a commitment that helped grant their monopoly powers.
I wonder why the satellite companies were not required to provide several local TV studios per state. They have to deal with all that local broadcast / blackouts / waivers nonsense.
Or do the "must carry" rules mean that local public access shows ARE shown on satellite now? (Though obviously not produced in their studios.) I haven't checked.
-- B
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In a realm outside causality and function | |
calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| OK, so local governments should be able to extort any sort of "support" for favored projects in return for granting permits to do business? You are supporting the antithesis of open government. What's next? We put the arm on grocery stores to give food to homeless shelters so that the true cost of supporting those shelters is both hidden from the public and outside the budget process? Maybe we tell car dealers they have to provide free cars to the city so the council members can have free cars to use without it showing up on the budget? Or how about we make dry-cleaners clean the cops' uniforms for free and we make restaurants give cops free meals? These are all disgusting hidden uses of local governmental power.
It's exactly the fact that I can't identify the monies going into this political slush fund that bothers me--I can identify and trace tax receipts, and petition my local governments about how to spend them. This is a hidden squeeze, and it's only the fact that the end result is a political one you like that causes you to support the result.
Maybe you're happy with government wasting your money on goth girls and nut cases, but I'm not.
Finally, saying that the capability implementing satellite blackouts means the capacity to broadcast local "public access" is a demonstration of your lack of knowledge about the technology. Broadcasting local "public access" would require local channels for each jurisdiction. Blackouts are implemented by turning off the channel in your set-top box, not by wasting satellite capacity by broadcasting different channels for different metro areas.
calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | |
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