1983-07-20 Public Hearings and Regular Meeting

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Page 9 • Renewal procedures. Section 609 establishes procedures for con- sideration of the incumbent's application and competing applica- tions. The incumbent's application must be submitted between 24 and 36 months prior to the date of franchise expiration. An RFP may be issued under section 613(b) requiring the provision of particular facilities and equipment (i.e., an upgrade may be man- dated) and the set aside of system capacity, including institu- tional network capacity, for public, educational, and govern- mental access use. A final decision on the incumbent's applica- tion must be made within 12 months of the application's filing. Additional franchises may be granted for an overbuild regardless of this provision. Review. The city's decision under section 609 may be subject to dud iiciic al review. That judicial review will be de novo unless the renewal applicant "has been afforded a hearing on the record before an independent hearing examiner or administrative law judge." (Sec. 609(e)). Continuity of service. In order to ensure that service is not interrupted during renewal proceedings or appeal of a denial of renewal, the franchise will remain in effect until any appeal is • resolved (Sec. 609(e)). This provision is intended to prevent a cable operator from shutting off service on the expiration date of the franchise if the court has not completed its review of the franchising authority's denial. PRIVACY Prohibition of wiretapping. Section 610 extends the protections of existing law, which prohibits the tapping of telephone lines without a court order, to communications over cable systems. Restrictions on collection and disclosure of personally identi- fiable information. Section 611 establishes exclusive federal stan ards for the protection of privacy. Under section 611, per- sonally identifiable information such as a subscriber's program- ming selections may not be collected unless authorized by the subscriber. The only exceptions to this prohibition are provided by section 611(a) which allows for the collection of information which is used for billing purposes or for monitoring unauthorized reception of service or which is required by court order. Per- sonally identifiable information which is collected under these exceptions or on the basis of an authorization may be disclosed to other persons only upon authorization by the subscriber or as a result of a court order. These stringent requirements, which are stronger than most existing state and local privacy require- . ments, are exclusive standards and may not be superseded or sup- plemented by state or local standards.