Congress Gives Satellite Viewers Local Station Option
![handle is hein.journals/jstl6 and id is 329 raw text is: LEGAL UPDATE
CONGRESS GIVES SATELLITE VIEWERS LOCAL
STATION OPTION
Stephen Super'
I. INTRODUCTION
1. For years, cable television companies have been telling customers that a
500-channel era is imminent.1 While cable viewers continue waiting for this,
or any, significant expansion, satellite television subscribers have long been
able to enjoy hundreds of channel choices, including premium movies, sports,
and news channels.2 Until recently, however, satellite carriers could not
legally deliver the channels viewers wanted most (ironically, the ones which
most viewers could already access): those of their local network affiliates.3
Congress lifted this local-into-local ban by passing the Intellectual Property
and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999 (IPCORA).4
2. The Act was designed to fuel competition in the multichannel video
industry.5 Historically, cable television providers held the competitive edge
B.A. (Public Relations), 1990, University of North Dakota; J.D. (anticipated), 2001,
Boston University School of Law.
' See 500 Channels? Some Critics Say the Long-term Prospects Are Nothing But Static,
CABLE WORLD, Feb. 14, 1994, available in 1994 WL 13810927.
2 See, e.g., Primestar Packing More Program Punch, CABLE WORLD, Mar. 3, 1997,
available in 1997 WL 9149671 ([Categories of channels will include] variety, family, news
and information, living and learning, music, [and] sports .. ); EchoStar Lines Up
Programming for New, High-Power DBS Bird, CABLE WORLD, Nov. 4, 1996, available in
1996 WL 9016331 (Echostar Communications Corp.... [will] raise its lineup to 130
channels....).
3 See Sallie Hofmeister, Law to Fulfill Satellite TV's Holiday Wish, L.A. TIMES, Nov. 24,
1999, at Al (citing consumer studies showing that the satellite industry's prohibition on
delivering local channels had hindered sales).
4 See Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999, S. 1948,
106th Cong. § 1002 (1999) (revising the House-Senate conference report, H.R. REP. No.
106-464 (1999), the House Report for H.R. 1554, 106th Cong. (1999)).
5 See H.R. REP. No. 106-464, at 91-92 (1999) (Because satellite can provide direct
competition with the cable industry, it is in the public interest to ensure that satellite
operates under a copyright framework that permits it to be an effective competitor.).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jstl6&div=17&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Congress Gives Satellite Viewers Local Station Option
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