Date: Thu, 23 Apr 92 16:52 GMT From: "Essential Information, Inc." <0002633455@MCIMAIL.COM> Subject: File 3--Ralph Nader/Cable TV/Information Networks (corrected) "Ralph Nader/Cable TV/Information Networks" From: Ralph Nader, Washington, DC date: April 16, 1992 Summary: Your help is needed to secure an amendment to pending cable television legislation. The amendment would create a mechanism to organize local Cable Consumer Action Groups (CCAGs) to represent the interests of consumers directly before regulatory and legislative bodies. This proposal is an innovative way to create countervailing power to some of the large corporate interests that control our information infrastructure, and it is a model that is highly relevant for users of voice and data network services. Readers are asked to sign a letter to Congress supporting this amendment. Action is needed very soon. Respond to Jim Donahue, Teledemocracy Project (Internet: 0002633455@mcimail.com) Dear citizen: As you may know, congress is currently considering cable television legislation. Every television consumer should be concerned about the outcome of this legislation, and particularly citizens who are concerned about the future of information technologies. The current fiasco with the cable industry is an important example of the management of information technologies for the benefit of a few corporate monopolists at the expense of the many. Today nearly all americans are confronted with a monopoly provider of cable video signals, who not only has total control over what you can receive, but also what you pay. Over the next 15 years we will see a rapid convergence of information technologies. Soon it will be possible to transmit voice, data, and video signals over the same fiber optic telecommunications infrastructure. The fight over who will control the content of information that flows over that infrastructure, and how it will be priced, will define who can send and who can receive information in digital form. As the use of modern technologies increasingly makes it easier to meter the consumption of information products and services, the gaps between the information rich and information poor will continue to grow. The current battle over the regulation of the cable television industry is an important step in a more general battle over the control of our information infrastructure. This is a battle over power and wealth, and also over democratic values, competition, and enlightenment. Will we harness our great new information technologies to promote a diversity of sources of information, or will these technologies be used primarily as vehicles for narrowly focused commercial interests, exercising monopoly power? CABLE CONSUMER ACTION GROUPS (CCAG) AS COUNTERVAILING POWER A number of consumer groups have asked Congress to adopt an innovative proposal to help cable television subscribers organize to represent their interests. Notices describing local Cable Consumer Action Groups (CCAGs), which would be independent and democratically controlled local organizations, would be placed in the cable companies billings. The notices describe the purposes and goals of the group and solicit funds for membership. The CCAG would be required to reimburse the cable company for the incremental costs of inserting the notice in the bill, so the cost would not be a burden to the cable company or its subscribers. These local subscriber consumer groups would then monitor the policies and practices of the cable company, and represent consumer interests in regulatory and legislative proceedings and with the cable companies directly. The cable industry is extremely active politically, contributing millions of dollars to candidates for political office and spending millions more in lobbying activities before legislative and regulatory bodies. In the absence of something like the CCAG, important public policy issues are debated in an extremely unbalanced way. The CCAG is a modest but important step in addressing a very corrupt system that regularly tramples on the rights and interests of consumers. Among the groups that have endorsed this proposal are: Center for Media Education Consumer Federation of America New York City Commissioner of Consumer Affairs Public Citizen Teledemocracy Project U.S. Public Interest Research Group HAS IT BEEN TRIED BEFORE? This proposal is based on the highly successful Citizen Utility Board (CUB) model, which has represented ratepayers in several states. The most successful CUB, in Illinois, has 170,000 members; its advocacy has saved consumers some $2 billion over the past several years. Other CUBs exist in Wisconsin, Oregon and San Diego. We want to see this innovation used nation wide in the cable television industry. (Of course, it may well be a model that has applications to other telecommunications issues.) WHAT YOU CAN DO The CCAG proposal was included in H.R. 4850, but was deleted by a voice vote (in contrast to a recorded vote) in the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance. The bill is now in the full Energy and Commerce Committee, where committee supporters will seek to restore the provision through an amendment. We are asking you to send us an email message giving permission to use your name in a letter to Congress supporting this amendment. If you are willing to do so send the following information to the Teledemocracy Project (internet: 0002633455@mcimail.com, or fax 202-234-5176). Name: Title: (optional) Affiliation: (optional) Address: City and State: (important, for obvious reasons) telephone: (for verification) email address: optional Thank you very much for your help on this. Sincerely, Ralph Nader A copy of the letter follows: ------------------------------------------------------------- LETTER Chairman Edward Markey Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance Committee on Energy and Commerce Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Chairman Markey: We are writing to support your "consumer representation" amendment to H.R. 4850, the cable re-regulation bill. It is imperative that new cable legislation provide a mechanism that gives consumers a stronger voice in regulatory and legislative debates. This amendment is ideal because it brings citizens into the regulatory process at no cost to the government or the cable industry. Who in Congress can deny the unfairness of a system where the owners of cable monopolies can use subscriber revenues for lobbying purposes while consumers are left powerless and unrepresented? This is only a small step toward curbing the monopolistic power of the cable television industry. We urge the House Energy and Commerce Committee to include your consumer representation amendment in the cable bill. Sincerely, ------------------------ For more information, contact: Jim Donahue Teledemocracy Project voice: 202/387-8030 fax: 202/234-5176 Internet: 0002633455@mcimail.com For a an email copy of the amendment contact Jim Donahue (internet: 0002633455@mcimail.com). Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253