Community Access Preservation Act

In an attempt to help preserve and protect Public, Education and Government (PEG) access channels, Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin filed the Community Access Preservation Act (CAP). The bill, filed on October 8, 2009, if enacted would:

• Allow PEG access fees to be used for any PEG-related purpose;

• End operators’ discriminatory treatment of PEG channels;

• Direct the FCC to study and report on the effects recent states’ video franchising legislation has had on PEG access; and

• Define all video services delivered to the home over wire as “cable” for the purposes of the act, regardless of the transmission protocol used.

The Alliance for Community Media (ACM) endorses the bill and is launching a campaign to gather co-sponsors, get a version filed in the Senate, get the bill passed by Congress and signed by the President. If you would like to help preserve PEG Access and BATV, please contact your Representatives and Senators. To make this process easy, the ACM has drafted a letter that you can use; simply visit www.alliancecm.org, under "CAP Act Update", click on “Support the Community Access Preservation Act Now”, click on “Support CAP”, and enter your zip code (in some cases, you may have to enter a street address). Your Representative and Senator’s name will appear; you may amend the letter or simply leave it as it reads, enter your personal information, then click on “Send”. This action will result in letters being faxed to your Representatives and Senators.

Your attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.