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47 U.S.C. § 573 — Establishment of open video systems
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Open video systems**
(1) **Certificates of compliance** — A local exchange carrier may provide cable service to its cable service subscribers in its telephone service area through an open video system that complies with this section. To the extent permitted by such regulations as the Commission may prescribe consistent with the public interest, convenience, and necessity, an operator of a cable system or any other person may provide video programming through an open video system that complies with this section. An operator of an open video system shall qualify for reduced regulatory burdens under subsection (c) of this section if the operator of such system certifies to the Commission that such carrier complies with the Commission’s regulations under subsection (b) and the Commission approves such certification. The Commission shall publish notice of the receipt of any such certification and shall act to approve or disapprove any such certification within 10 days after receipt of such certification.
(2) **Dispute resolution** — The Commission shall have the authority to resolve disputes under this section and the regulations prescribed thereunder. Any such dispute shall be resolved within 180 days after notice of such dispute is submitted to the Commission. At that time or subsequently in a separate damages proceeding, the Commission may, in the case of any violation of this section, require carriage, award damages to any person denied carriage, or any combination of such sanctions. Any aggrieved party may seek any other remedy available under this chapter.
**(b) Commission actions**
(1) **Regulations required** — Within 6 months after February 8, 1996, the Commission shall complete all actions necessary (including any reconsideration) to prescribe regulations
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Source location: Title 47, Chapter 5, § 573; chapter-005-wire-or-radio-communication.md
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**(a) Open video systems**
(1) **Certificates of compliance** — A local exchange carrier may provide cable service to its cable service subscribers in its telephone service area through an open video system that complies with this section. To the extent permitted by such regulations as the Commission may prescribe consistent with the public interest, convenience, and necessity, an operator of a cable system or any other person may provide video programming through an open video system that complies with this section. An operator of an open video system shall qualify for reduced regulatory burdens under subsection (c) of this section if the operator of such system certifies to the Commission that such carrier complies with the Commission’s regulations under subsection (b) and the Commission approves such certification. The Commission shall publish notice of the receipt of any such certification and shall act to approve or disapprove any such certification within 10 days after receipt of such certification.
(2) **Dispute resolution** — The Commission shall have the authority to resolve disputes under this section and the regulations prescribed thereunder. Any such dispute shall be resolved within 180 days after notice of such dispute is submitted to the Commission. At that time or subsequently in a separate damages proceeding, the Commission may, in the case of any violation of this section, require carriage, award damages to any person denied carriage, or any combination of such sanctions. Any aggrieved party may seek any other remedy available under this chapter.
**(b) Commission actions**
(1) **Regulations required** — Within 6 months after February 8, 1996, the Commission shall complete all actions necessary (including any reconsideration) to prescribe regulations that—
(A) except as required pursuant to section 531, 534, or 535 of this title, prohibit an operator of an open video system from discriminating among video programming providers with regard to carriage on its open video system, and ensure that the rates, terms, and conditions for such carriage are just and reasonable, and are not unjustly or unreasonably discriminatory;
(B) if demand exceeds the channel capacity of the open video system, prohibit an operator of an open video system and its affiliates from selecting the video programming services for carriage on more than one-third of the activated channel capacity on such system, but nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to limit the number of channels that the carrier and its affiliates may offer to provide directly to subscribers;
(C) permit an operator of an open video system to carry on only one channel any video programming service that is offered by more than one video programming provider (including the local exchange carrier’s video programming affiliate): Provided, That subscribers have ready and immediate access to any such video programming service;
(D) extend to the distribution of video programming over open video systems the Commission’s regulations concerning sports exclusivity (47 C.F.R. 76.67), network nonduplication (47 C.F.R. 76.92 et seq.), and syndicated exclusivity (47 C.F.R. 76.151 et seq.); and
(E)
(i) prohibit an operator of an open video system from unreasonably discriminating in favor of the operator or its affiliates with regard to material or information (including advertising) provided by the operator to subscribers for the purposes of selecting programming on the open video system, or in the way such material or information is presented to subscribers;
(ii) require an operator of an open video system to ensure that video programming providers or copyright holders (or both) are able suitably and uniquely to identify their programming services to subscribers;
(iii) if such identification is transmitted as part of the programming signal, require the carrier to transmit such identification without change or alteration; and
(iv) prohibit an operator of an open video system from omitting television broadcast stations or other unaffiliated video programming services carried on such system from any navigational device, guide, or menu.
(2) **Consumer access** — Subject to the requirements of paragraph (1) and the regulations thereunder, nothing in this section prohibits a common carrier or its affiliate from negotiating mutually agreeable terms and conditions with over-the-air broadcast stations and other unaffiliated video programming providers to allow consumer access to their signals on any level or screen of any gateway, menu, or other program guide, whether provided by the carrier or its affiliate.
**(c) Reduced regulatory burdens for open video systems**
(1) **In general** — Any provision that applies to a cable operator under—
(A) sections 533 (other than subsection (a) thereof), 536, 543(f), 548, 551, and 554 of this title, shall apply,
(B) sections 531, 534, and 535 of this title, and [section 325 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title47-section325&num=0&edition=prelim), shall apply in accordance with the regulations prescribed under paragraph (2), and
(C) sections 532 and 537 of this title, and parts III and IV of this subchapter (other than sections 543(f), 548, 551, and 554 of this title), shall not apply,
to any operator of an open video system for which the Commission has approved a certification under this section.
(2) **Implementation**
(A) *Commission action* — In the rulemaking proceeding to prescribe the regulations required by subsection (b)(1), the Commission shall, to the extent possible, impose obligations that are no greater or lesser than the obligations contained in the provisions described in paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection. The Commission shall complete all action (including any reconsideration) to prescribe such regulations no later than 6 months after February 8, 1996.
(B) *Fees* — An operator of an open video system under this part may be subject to the payment of fees on the gross revenues of the operator for the provision of cable service imposed by a local franchising authority or other governmental entity, in lieu of the franchise fees permitted under [section 542 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title47-section542&num=0&edition=prelim). The rate at which such fees are imposed shall not exceed the rate at which franchise fees are imposed on any cable operator transmitting video programming in the franchise area, as determined in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Commission. An operator of an open video system may designate that portion of a subscriber’s bill attributable to the fee under this subparagraph as a separate item on the bill.
(3) **Regulatory streamlining** — With respect to the establishment and operation of an open video system, the requirements of this section shall apply in lieu of, and not in addition to, the requirements of subchapter II.
(4) **Treatment as cable operator** — Nothing in this chapter precludes a video programming provider making use of an open video system from being treated as an operator of a cable system for purposes of [section 111 of title 17](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title17-section111&num=0&edition=prelim).
**(d) “Telephone service area” defined** For purposes of this section, the term “telephone service area” when used in connection with a common carrier subject in whole or in part to subchapter II of this chapter means the area within which such carrier is offering telephone exchange service.
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Payment under terms of franchise** Subject to the limitation of subsection (b), any cable operator may be required under the terms of any franchise to pay a franchise fee.
**(b) Amount of fees per annum** For any twelve-month period, the franchise fees paid by a cable operator with respect to any cable system shall not exceed 5 percent of such cable operator’s gross revenues derived in such period from the operation of the cable system to provide cable services. For purposes of this section, the 12-month period shall be the 12-month period applicable under the franchise for accounting purposes. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a franchising authority and a cable operator from agreeing that franchise fees which lawfully could be collected for any such 12-month period shall be paid on a prepaid or deferred basis; except that the sum of the fees paid during the term of the franchise may not exceed the amount, including the time value of money, which would have lawfully been collected if such fees had been paid per annum.
**(c) Itemization of subscriber bills** Each cable operator may identify, consistent with the regulations prescribed by the Commission pursuant to [section 543 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title47-section543&num=0&edition=prelim), as a separate line item on each regular bill of each subscriber, each of the following:
(1) The amount of the total bill assessed as a franchise fee and the identity of the franchising authority to which the fee is paid.
(2) The amount of the total bill assessed to satisfy any requirements imposed on the cable operator by the franchise agreement to support public, educational, or governmental channels or the use of such channels.
(3) The amount of any other fee, t
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 47 U.S.C. § 542
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
This chapter may be cited as the “Communications Act of 1934.”
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 47 U.S.C. § 609
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Certain Secondary Transmissions Exempted.—** The secondary transmission of a performance or display of a work embodied in a primary transmission is not an infringement of copyright if—
(1) the secondary transmission is not made by a cable system, and consists entirely of the relaying, by the management of a hotel, apartment house, or similar establishment, of signals transmitted by a broadcast station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, within the local service area of such station, to the private lodgings of guests or residents of such establishment, and no direct charge is made to see or hear the secondary transmission; or
(2) the secondary transmission is made solely for the purpose and under the conditions specified by paragraph (2) of section 110; or
(3) the secondary transmission is made by any carrier who has no direct or indirect control over the content or selection of the primary transmission or over the particular recipients of the secondary transmission, and whose activities with respect to the secondary transmission consist solely of providing wires, cables, or other communications channels for the use of others: Provided, That the provisions of this paragraph extend only to the activities of said carrier with respect to secondary transmissions and do not exempt from liability the activities of others with respect to their own primary or secondary transmissions;
(4) the secondary transmission is made by a satellite carrier pursuant to a statutory license under section 119 or section 122;
(5) the secondary transmission is not made by a cable system but is made by a governmental body, or other nonprofit organization, without any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage, and without charge to the recipients of the secondary
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 17 U.S.C. § 111
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) False distress signals; rebroadcasting programs** No person within the jurisdiction of the United States shall knowingly utter or transmit, or cause to be uttered or transmitted, any false or fraudulent signal of distress, or communication relating thereto, nor shall any broadcasting station rebroadcast the program or any part thereof of another broadcasting station without the express authority of the originating station.
**(b) Consent to retransmission of broadcasting station signals**
(1) No cable system or other multichannel video programming distributor shall retransmit the signal of a broadcasting station, or any part thereof, except—
(A) with the express authority of the originating station;
(B) under [section 534 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title47-section534&num=0&edition=prelim), in the case of a station electing, in accordance with this subsection, to assert the right to carriage under such section; or
(C) under [section 338 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title47-section338&num=0&edition=prelim), in the case of a station electing, in accordance with this subsection, to assert the right to carriage under such section.
(2) This subsection shall not apply—
(A) to retransmission of the signal of a noncommercial television broadcast station;
(B) to retransmission of the signal of a television broadcast station outside the station’s local market by a satellite carrier directly to its subscribers, if—
(i) such station was a superstation on May 1, 1991;
(ii) as of July 1, 1998, such station was retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the statutory license of [section 119 of title 17](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-pr
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 47 U.S.C. § 325
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
For purposes of this subchapter—
(1) the term “activated channels” means those channels engineered at the headend of a cable system for the provision of services generally available to residential subscribers of the cable system, regardless of whether such services actually are provided, including any channel designated for public, educational, or governmental use;
(2) 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;
(3) the term “basic cable service” means any service tier which includes the retransmission of local television broadcast signals;
(4) 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);
(5) 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;
(6) 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 or use of such video programming or other programming service;
(7) the term “cable system” means a facility, consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception, and control equipment that is designed to provide cable service which incl
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 47 U.S.C. § 522
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Limitations on cable regulation**
(1) **Radio-based systems** — To the extent that a common carrier (or any other person) is providing video programming to subscribers using radio communication, such carrier (or other person) shall be subject to the requirements of subchapter III and [section 572 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title47-section572&num=0&edition=prelim), but shall not otherwise be subject to the requirements of this subchapter.
(2) **Common carriage of video traffic** — To the extent that a common carrier is providing transmission of video programming on a common carrier basis, such carrier shall be subject to the requirements of subchapter II and [section 572 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title47-section572&num=0&edition=prelim), but shall not otherwise be subject to the requirements of this subchapter. This paragraph shall not affect the treatment under [section 522(7)(C) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title47-section522/7/C&num=0&edition=prelim) of a facility of a common carrier as a cable system.
(3) **Cable systems and open video systems** — To the extent that a common carrier is providing video programming to its subscribers in any manner other than that described in paragraphs (1) and (2)—
(A) such carrier shall be subject to the requirements of this subchapter, unless such programming is provided by means of an open video system for which the Commission has approved a certification under [section 573 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title47-section573&num=0&edition=prelim); or
(B) if such programming is provided by means of an open video system for which the
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 47 U.S.C. § 571
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
Page 312
TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS
§ 573
1 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘subsection’’.
enter into a joint venture or partnership with,
any cable system within the local exchange
carrier’s telephone service area that serves no
more than 20,000 cable subscribers, if no more
than 12,000 of those subscribers live within an
urbanized area, as defined by the Bureau of the
Census.
(6) Waivers
The Commission may waive the restrictions
of subsections 1 (a), (b), or (c) only if—
(A) the Commission determines that, be-
cause of the nature of the market served by
the affected cable system or facilities used
to provide telephone exchange service—
(i) the affected cable operator or local
exchange carrier would be subjected to
undue economic distress by the enforce-
ment of such provisions;
(ii) the system or facilities would not be
economically viable if such provisions
were enforced; or
(iii) the anticompetitive effects of the
proposed
transaction
are
clearly
out-
weighed in the public interest by the prob-
able effect of the transaction in meeting
the convenience and needs of the commu-
nity to be served; and
(B) the local franchising authority ap-
proves of such waiver.
(e) ‘‘Telephone service area’’ defined
For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘tele-
phone service area’’ when used in connection
with a common carrier subject in whole or in
part to subchapter II of this chapter means the
area within which such carrier provided tele-
phone exchange service as of January 1, 1993, but
if any common carrier after such date transfers
its telephone exchange service facilities to an-
other common carrier, the area to which such
facilities provide telephone exchange service
shall be treated as part of the telephone service
area of the acquiring
Source: Supplied 2024 U.S. Code historical extraction · 47 U.S.C. § 573
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