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Charter cable attempts to kill community TV

BREAKING NEWS

Charter Communications hires bankruptcy lawyers
MultiChannel News 2-8-2009

Stalking the perfect storm
Weather warnings of a telecommunications Katrina
Barbwire / Daily Sparks Tribune / 12-21-2008

FCC wants big fines for cable giants over channel switching

Charter Communications bankruptcy predicted
Barbwire / Daily Sparks Tribune / 12-14-2008

CRUNCH TIME TO SAVE COMMUNITY TV
WRITE SEN. HARRY REID NOW
Barbwire / Daily Sparks Tribune / 12-7-2008

Not even 30 pieces of silver
Reno City Council Signs Community TV Death Warrant
Contact Sen. Harry Reid for help
Barbwire / Daily Sparks Tribune / 11-23-2008

Rise of the Machines
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune / 11-16-2008

So sue us: Charter tells Sen. Reid and Reno
11-14-2008

The devil and the deep blue sea
Charter deal and Reno "settlement" offers are all death warrants for community television. Court battle looms closer.
Sparks Tribune / 11-11-2008
+ Barbwire special web edition, 11-12-2008

Back to work
Reno City Council reviews defective, deflective Charter cable settlement as FCC investigation opens
Barbwire/ Sparks Tribune / 11-9-2008

Analysis of Reno's Charter deal: Caveat Emptor
PLUS: More first-run Michael Moore freebies on public access TV 16/216
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune / 10-26-2008

Reno-Sparks NAACP opposes Charter channel switch

Charter negotiates Russian-style:
Will accept 100% of everything
Daily Sparks Tribune 9-5-2008 / Barbwire Update 9-7-2008

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., ready to join legal action against Charter Cable

SPARKS, WASHOE, CARSON AND DOUGLAS CABLE CUSTOMERS URGED TO CONTACT LOCAL OFFICIALS
ReSurge.TV may broaden legal action to include ratepayers and program producers outside of Reno
8-25-2008, Updated 8-28-2008

Reno city council votes unanimously to sue Charter to keep community TV accessible
Resurge.TV will also file

Fight Back!

How we sank to this sorry state of affairs
Dennis Myers/ Reno News & Review / 8-21-2008

The people were heard on Aug. 14.
Call, write or show up at Reno City Hall at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 20

Bandwidth bandidos admit to their greed
Report from Reno City Hall
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune 8-17-2008

The people vs. Charter's pirate ship
Time to sue the bastards
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune 8-10-2008

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The following Barbwire column on the depredations of Charter Communications and the Reno City Council was honored with a 2009 Nevada Press Association first-place award
Deregulation is never having to say you're sorry
Bad news for cable subscribers, good news for Hug High School
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune 8-3-2008
UPDATE: Looks like suing the bastards is the only recourse.
Updated 8-9-2008

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City of Reno Citizens Cable Compliance Committee archives
and local, state and national cable / telecom info

NEW —BARBWIRE.TV

BACK TO HOME PAGE

Announcing the launch of ReSurge.TV      A new Nevada-based consumer organization targeting telecommunications, media and utility issues. TOPIC A: LIFE AS TELEVISION      Like most of the United States, Nevada cable television consumers are victims of a federally-created monopoly. Local governments have been loathe to use their limited power to help their own citizens. Las Vegas area residents, with the exception of Boulder City, were denied public access television services despite the sparkling track record of the Reno-Sparks system (which local consumers saved from extermination in 1990-91). In 2003, Nevada's only municipally-owned cable system, which has been fighting its own workers, made common cause with the Cox (southern Nevada) and Charter (northern Nevada) cable systems to kill pro-consumer legislation. Those cyberchickens are now coming home to rue — see below.      As the late Sen. Eugene McCarthy, D-Minn., said in a different time and place, "There's nothing left but to take it to the people."      So here we are at the dawn of a new era of competition which the entrenched cable interests will fight fang and claw — if their conduct here and in other states provides any indication. They have pillaged Nevada ratepayers as they have those in other jurisdictions, so the pattern has become achingly apparent.      What to do? Organize, organize, organize!      Get on our mailing list. Volunteer to involve friends and colleagues in your own community by organizing, calling, writing and showing up at public meetings. Officially join the organization with an e-contribution (see above), or via U.S. Mail, see below.      We need volunteers in every Nevada community for the upcoming clash of the titans. This is important.      Telecommunications is not just phone calls and cable, it's the way in which your community may prosper in the future — or not.      The choice will be yours only if you get involved in making the right choices.      Don't underestimate your own power — Charter Communications refused to provide high speed Internet access to northern Nevada businesses until a Reno citizens committee began to investigate the lapse.      Be well. Raise hell.      Andrew Barbano      Reno, Nevada Contributions payable to U-News may be sent to P.O. Box 10034 Reno, NV 89510 TOPIC B: DEATH AS A PROFIT CENTER The campaign against forcibly paid obituaries Major newspapers now exploit the dead by charging for obituaries, a national epidemic. I have some proposals to impact it, but first I'd like to hear your ideas. Please write me.

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Breaking News
Charter cable attempts to kill community TV

Stalking the perfect storm
Weather warnings of a telecommunications Katrina
Barbwire / Daily Sparks Tribune / 12-21-2008

Not even 30 pieces of silver
Reno City Council Signs Community TV Death Warrant
Contact Sen. Harry Reid for help
Barbwire / Daily Sparks Tribune / 11-23-2008

Rise of the Machines
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune / 11-16-2008

So sue us: Charter tells Sen. Reid and Reno
11-14-2008

Charter negotiates Russian-style:
Will accept 100% of everything
Daily Sparks Tribune 9-5-2008 / Barbwire Update 9-7-2008

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., ready to join legal action against Charter Cable

SPARKS, WASHOE, CARSON AND DOUGLAS CABLE CUSTOMERS URGED TO CONTACT LOCAL OFFICIALS
ReSurge.TV may broaden legal action to include ratepayers and program producers outside of Reno
8-25-2008

WE WIN ROUND ONE — As the Barbwire show scooped the state on Friday, Aug. 22: Charter has caved in and postponed the execution date for 90 days. Thanks for bringing the heat. See the Barbwire in the Sunday Sparks Tribune for all the inside baseball. Be well. Raise hell. AB

The evil empire eats its appetite
Community television wins a 90-day stay of execution
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune / 8-24-2008

Reno city council votes unanimously to sue Charter to keep community TV accessible
Resurge.TV will also file

Fight Back!

Unscripted Ending
The picture gets blurry for public access television.
Governing Magazine, Feb. 2008

How we sank to this sorry state of affairs
Dennis Myers/ Reno News & Review / 8-21-2008

The people were heard on Aug. 14.
Call, write or show up at Reno City Hall at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 20

Bandwidth bandidos admit to their greed
Report from Reno City Hall
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune 8-17-2008

The people vs. Charter's pirate ship
Time to sue the bastards
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune 8-10-2008

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The following Barbwire column on the depredations of Charter Communications and the Reno City Council was honored with a 2009 Nevada Press Association first-place award
Deregulation is never having to say you're sorry
Bad news for cable subscribers, good news for Hug High School
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune 8-3-2008
UPDATE: Looks like suing the bastards is the only recourse.
Updated 8-9-2008

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Tomorrow's news today — High Stakes Clash of the Titans
BARBWIRE: Bandwidth bandidos

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BARBWIRE OLIGOPOLY WATCH
Deregulation, now before Nevada's governor for signature,
has not lowered cable rates in Texas
BARBWIRE/Daily Sparks Tribune 5-27-2007, UPDATED 5-28-2007
Tales of pigs, perversions and pipelines
Daily Sparks Tribune 5-20-2007
The latest legislative attempt at consolidation of power
by phone and cable companies
Including a 10-year timeline of anti-consumer legislation
Daily Sparks Tribune 4-1-2007, 4-8-2007, UPDATED 5-10 and 5-20-2007

Will cable law cut cost or convenience?
Consumer groups and local officials warn that the bill, aimed at eliminating locally negotiated franchises in favor of state licensing, would make it harder for disgruntled customers to get problems fixed.
Orlando Sentinel 5-4-2007

Phone Carriers Win a Skirmish in Cable Wars
The F.C.C. approved new rules that will make it easier for telephone companies
to offer television service.
(New York Times 12-21-2006; free registration may be required.)

Tucson consumers fight to retain public access
Arizona Daily Star Editorial 11-26-2006

Bill Moyers: An astounding hour on net neutrality
The corporatization of the Internet now before congress

Free at last?
Real competition for cable TV finally makes it to Nevada
Reno will be the BETA test for competition 1.0

Incline Village General Improvement District wants cable autonomy
(They need to review how Nevada lawmakers sold out the public long ago)
Washoe County Charter franchise more than two years behind
County spokeswoman Kathy Carter says cable lobbying has weakened county's position

Cox Cable gets $4 million+ of Gomorrah South land for $1
Las Vegas CityLife 7-20-2006 (read to the bottom of the above link)

Charter Communications accused of endangering public safety by failing to activate emergency alert system
Daily Sparks Tribune 7-1-2006
Local control of cable franchising endangered in Sacramento and DC
Big Telecoms rewriting rules for cable, wary consumer groups outraged
Reno Gazette-Journal/AP National Roundup 6-12-2006
BARBWIRE: Major telecom players may soon resemble today's oilogopoly
Daily Sparks Tribune 6-11-2006
New York Times: House Backs Telecom Bill Favoring Phone Companies
6-9-2006, free registration required
SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN: The cable that binds
Comcast bullies cities like Oakland with lawsuits, but pending state legislation and San Francisco's municipal broadband initiative could change how television gets delivered
6-7-2006
Sacramento Bee: Assembly approves statewide cable franchises
6-1-2006

BARBWIRE:
Municipalities must act to force telecoms to uphold federal privacy laws
" City and county regulators should immediately begin to review their local franchise agreements to pressure current and future telecommunications franchisees to uphold the law or face serious sanctions."
Daily Sparks Tribune 5-14-2006

Late night rape and pillage bulletin for Charter cable northern Nevada ratepayers
April 8, 2006

BREAKING NEWS: Cable greed and lawmaker laxity come back to bite Nevada ratepayers in the ass
Wall Street Journal lists Nevada among state legislatures which passed anti-consumer legislation barring municipalities from providing cable and Internet services. Now, the cyber wi-fi chickens are expensively coming home to rue.
Wall Street Journal/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 3-21-2006
The abovelinked article also appeared in the 3-27-2006 Reno Gazette-Journal

TOLJASO DEPT. — Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, Barbara Stone and Andrew Barbano tried to repair the law in 2003, but Cox and Charter had too many people bought. Read it and weep.

BREAKING NEWS: Charter Sells More Systems
Select networks in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah

Those Bell Mergers Are Giving Cable Companies Even More to Worry About
New York Times 3-13-2006; free registration may be required

RESOURCES

Unofficial City of Reno Citizens Cable Compliance Committee website

NevadaLabor.com Energy War Room

NevadaLabor.com BARBWIRE Oilogopoly Archives

 

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