July 6, 2012 On July 1, 2012, the FCC’s video description rules, which implement the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, took effect. Video description is an audio description of a program’s key visual elements for the visually impaired.
Viewability Rule to Sunset in Six Months; Small System HD Carriage Exemption Extended for Three Years
July 6, 2012 On June 12, 2012, the FCC announced the sunset of the FCC’s dual must-carry, or “viewability” rule, and extended for three more years the HD carriage exemption for eligible small cable system operators.
July 6, 2012 Cable operators must file with the U.S. Copyright Office their Statement of Accounts (Form SA1-2 or SA3) and pay any royalty fees due for the January 2012 – June 2012 accounting period by August 29, 2012.
June 15, 2012 Beginning June 30, 2012, all cable operators must have the capability to receive Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)-formatted Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages. If you do not have CAP-compliant EAS equipment installed by June 30, 2012, we suggest you apply for a waiver, particularly in light of the fines for noncompliance.
Prevent Being Overbuilt by Connect America Fund (“CAF”) Money
June 15, 2012 Price cap carriers, such as AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, Frontier, Fairpoint, Windstream, and Consolidated Communications, have until July 24, 2012 to accept their portions of the $300 million CAF Phase I support.
Former Comcast and Time Warner Customers Allege Cable Privacy Violations
June 15, 2012 Former customers of Time Warner Cable and Comcast have filed class action lawsuits in California federal court, alleging Comcast and Time Warner violated the Cable Communications Policy Act (“Act”) by retaining customer information after customers cancel services.