I. Constitutional Questions
First Amendment
- Protection of programmer rights
- Government authority to license and regulate operators
- Public right of access to media
Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments
- Just and reasonable compensation for use of property
- Due process in regulation
- Equitable treatment of similar licensees
II. Federal and State Legislation
1982 ATT divestiture and Modified Final Judgment
1984 Cable Act
1992 Cable Act Amendments
Telecommunications Act of 1996
State Cable laws
State Telecommunications laws
III. Telecommunications Regulation and Licensing
Cable Television
- Regulatory ordinances
- Franchise agreements
- Requests for Proposals
- Negotiation and award of franchises
- Overbuilds
- Municipal ownership
- Transfers
- Operator bankruptcy
- "Informal" renewal negotiations
- "Formal" renewal proceedings, hearings and court reviews
- Revocations and removal from the community
Telecommunications Services
- Publicly-owned communications networks
- Right-of-way use ordinances
- Revenue ordinances
- Negotiation and award of licenses
- State regulatory proceedings
- FCC rulemakings and court appeals
IV. Rate Regulation
Cable rate regulation
- FCC rulemakings and appeals
- Certification
- Basic Service regulations
- Cable Programming Service complaints
- "Benchmark" analysis, related investigations and orders
- FCC and federal court appeals of local rate actions
- Cost of Service proceedings
Telephone and telecommunications rate regulation
- Rate of return investigations
- Cost allocation studies
- State and federal rulemakings
- Price cap and rate of return rate proceedings
Facility authorizations
V. Technology Issues
Cable technical standards
Consumer service standards
Equipment certification
Experimental service authorization
VI. Programming and Intellectual Property
Copyright
Software and hardware licenses
Program distribution contracts
Leased access channel leases
Broadcast signal carriage
Administration of public and government access channels
VII. Consumer Protection and Fair Competition
Consumer protection ordinances
Customer service standards
Fair business practice regulations
Market entry and open competition rules
VIII. Financing and Joint Ventures
Public-private joint ventures
Municipally owned networks
