| dc.description.abstract | The networks that are generically referred to as ?cable? today began their lives
with a particular purpose: the distribution of television signals within a community.
Given this history, cable networks have always operated under a regulatory regime
separate from telephone networks?. Telephone systems are regulated as common
carriers: telephone network services must be made available to all potential customers in
a non-discriminatory fashion. Cable networks, in contrast, are not subject to the
requirements of common carriage: cable system operators are under no legal obligation to
make their networks available to anyone who wants to use them to distribute content (for
example, a new television channel), and have in fact historically exhibited a high degree
of vertical integration between conduit (cable networks) and content (TV channels).
As ever more cable systems gain the capability to connect their subscribers to the
Internet, this reality has sparked an intense legal wrangling and debate over the issue that
is referred to as ?open access.?
1
Should cable systems with the capability to transmit data
be required to allow any service provider to access customers through the cable network?
Or is the current industry structure?in which service providers can only gain direct
access to a cable system if they succeed in negotiating an agreement with the cable
operator?a more appropriate way forward? | en |
