QPTV may have to pay its own way

A battle is currently being waged in Congress over communication rights and funding. While some members of Congress are battling to pass a bill that would allow companies to charge for access to parts of the Internet, as well as leave public access TV with an uncertain future, other lawmakers have introduced separate legislation to counter the bill’s restrictions to free Internet access.
The original bill, the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act of 2006, was approved in the House of Representatives in April, but since then, several bills and amendments have been introduced in opposition. In the most recent version of COPE, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was given the power to protect “network neutrality.” Moreover, on Thursday, May 25, the House Judiciary Committee passed the “Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006,” which would protect “network neutrality” and prohibit the FCC from defending free Internet access.
Currently, the Internet works with “network neutrality,” allowing all users universal access. Although users generally pay some sort of fee to access the Internet -through a dial-up, cable, or DSL service – content providers, those who create the websites and launch them on the Internet, do not have to pay. The COPE bill would allow companies, including Verizon and AT&T, to create a two-tiered web system and charge content providers so that their websites are quickly and easily accessible. Website owners who do not pay would be in the “slow lane” of the Internet.
In addition, activists have also rallied against COPE’s creation of a federal communications franchising system. By dismantling the “local franchises,” COPE would put a heavy burden on Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) TV – possibly forcing stations, including Queens Public Television (QPTV) to pay for themselves.
Last week QPTV employees rallied with other public access TV proponents outside Verizon corporate headquarters in Lower Manhattan to protest the network’s support of COPE, which would jeopardize the $81 million the city’s five PEG TV networks receive annually. And on May 10, the New York City Council unanimously passed a resolution in opposition of COPE.
“I oppose this piece of legislation because it takes away the City of New York’s ability to control our rights-of-way, decreases consumer choice, and may even destroy public access TV. Public Access TV promotes the airing of a diversity of opinions. Without it democracy suffers,” said Councilwoman Gale Brewer.
For Queens, the dismantling of QPTV would mean an end to the network’s 24-year run.
“The sharing of ideas, cultural traditions, and empowering information offers the residents of Queens an opportunity that is not only unique, but one that might not otherwise be found in mainstream media outlets,” said Daniel Leone, executive director of QPTV.