[opendtv] Re: DTV Delay Bill Introduced

  • From: "John Willkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:25:24 -0800

No, craig, you are short of the mark.  The 1996 Act gave the FCC authority
to specify the deadline based on ambiguous criteria, written in a negative
fashion that made them virtually impossible to be constitutional.

In other words, the FCC would have been handed their head in court, as
broadcasters would certainly have sued and won.  (Ambiguous laws are
unconstitutional.)  With only ambiguous authority, the FCC had no authority
to stop anybody from doing anything.

The ambiguity was manifest, and it was widely discussed here, before Bert
came to dominate non-discussions.  

So, the "wiser heads" in Congress came up with a hard date, rather than the
"15% of this, and some of that" language in the 1996 Act.  And, now, they
are losing their nerve.

You are simply confused, thinking that the FCC had the authority to impose a
deadline.  Their INACTION even proves my point.

You even prove my point below " there was no real DTV deadline between the 
fall of 1997 and January of 2006" you just artificially limit it to a set
period of time.  I don't understand your specifying a time period in reverse
order; perhaps that's just how Macs deal with time, but I'll take your
point.

And, you are just being churlish and foolish.  If they AREN"T READY NOW
after much efforts, what the hell makes you think they were ready three
years ago?

John Willkie

-----Mensaje original-----
De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En
nombre de Craig Birkmaier
Enviado el: Monday, January 19, 2009 6:47 AM
Para: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Asunto: [opendtv] Re: DTV Delay Bill Introduced

At 6:53 PM -0800 1/17/09, John Willkie wrote:
>The only place where there was a three-year extension of the digital
>transition was in the fantasy-land in which you live, Bob.

As usual, John's uncontrollable urge to communicate using insults, is 
both inappropriate and WRONG.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act gave the authority to set the 
deadline to the FCC, which in turn set the original deadline at the 
end of 1996. The broadcasters were none too happy about this and 
immediately got their friends in Congress to make the 2006 deadline 
meaningless:

The Balanced Budget Act  of 1997 was passed about six months after 
the FCC set the 2006 deadline. According to 
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/piac/octmtg/tatalk.htm

The Balanced Budget Act specified that no analog broadcast license 
may be renewed beyond December 31, 2006. (143 Cong. Rec. H6032-H6033, 
adding new section 309(j)(14)(A) to the Communications Act). At the 
same time, Congress directed the FCC to extend that deadline in any 
television market:

if any ABC, NBC, CBS, or Fox affiliate in that market is not 
broadcasting a DTV signal, assuming that the FCC finds that the 
station has exercised "due diligence" in trying to deploy DTV;

if digital-to-analog converter technology is not generally available 
in the market; or

if 15 percent or more of the households in the market do not 
subscribe to a multichannel provider (e.g., cable, MMDS, DBS) that 
retransmits at least one digital programming service from each DTV 
station in that market and those households do not have a digital 
television set or digital-to-analog converter.

So in reality-land John, there was no real DTV deadline between the 
fall of 1997 and January of 2006, when Congress passed legislation 
establishing the February 17, 2009 deadline, which added 3 years and 
48 days to the deadline originally established by the FCC.

You can take the Tijuana Taxi back to your fantasy land now John.

Regards
Craig
 
 
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