Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 98 Part 3.djvu/408

 98 STAT. 2780

PUBLIC LAW 98-549—OCT. 30, 1984 AMENDMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934

SEC. 2. The Communications Act of 1934 is amended by inserting after title V the following new title: "TITLE VI—CABLE COMMUNICATIONS "PART I—GENERAL PROVISIONS "PURPOSES

47 USC 521.

"SEC. 601. The purposes of this title are to— "(1) establish a national policy concerning cable communications; "(2) establish franchise procedures and standards which encourage the growth and development of cable systems and which assure that cable systems are responsive to the needs and interests of the local community; "(3) establish guidelines for the exercise of Federal, State, and local authority with respect to the regulation of cable systems; "(4) assure that cable communications provide and are encouraged to provide the widest possible diversity of information sources and services to the public; "(5) establish an orderly process for franchise renewal which protects cable operators against unfair denials of renewal where the operator's past performance and proposal for future performance meet the standards established by this title; and "(6) promote competition in cable communications and minimize unnecessary regulation that would impose an undue economic burden on cable systems. "DEFINITIONS

47 USC 522.

"SEC. 602. For purposes of this title— "(1) the term 'affiliate', when used in relation to any person, means another person who owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, such person; "(2) the term 'basic cable service' means any service tier which includes the retransmission of local television broadcast signals; "(3) the term 'cable channel' or 'channel' means a portion of the electromagnetic frequency spectrum which is used in a cable system and which is capable of delivering a television channel (as television channel is defined by the Commission by regulation); "(4) the term 'cable operator' means any person or group of persons (A) who provides cable service over a cable system and directly or through one or more affiliates owns a significant interest in such cable system, or (B) who otherwise controls or is responsible for, through any arrangement, the management and operation of such a cable system; "(5) the term 'cable service' means— "(A) the one-way transmission to subscribers of (i) video programming, or (ii) other programming service, and "(B) subscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection of such video programming or other programming service;

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