
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 47USC532]

 
          TITLE 47--TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS
 
                 CHAPTER 5--WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION
 
                  SUBCHAPTER V-A--CABLE COMMUNICATIONS
 
     Part II--Use of Cable Channels and Cable Ownership Restrictions
 
Sec. 532. Cable channels for commercial use


(a) Purpose

    The purpose of this section is to promote competition in the 
delivery of diverse sources of video programming and to assure that the 
widest possible diversity of information sources are made available to 
the public from cable systems in a manner consistent with growth and 
development of cable systems.

(b) Designation of channel capacity for commercial use

    (1) A cable operator shall designate channel capacity for commercial 
use by persons unaffiliated with the operator in accordance with the 
following requirements:
        (A) An operator of any cable system with 36 or more (but not 
    more than 54) activated channels shall designate 10 percent of such 
    channels which are not otherwise required for use (or the use of 
    which is not prohibited) by Federal law or regulation.
        (B) An operator of any cable system with 55 or more (but not 
    more than 100) activated channels shall designate 15 percent of such 
    channels which are not otherwise required for use (or the use of 
    which is not prohibited) by Federal law or regulation.
        (C) An operator of any cable system with more than 100 activated 
    channels shall designate 15 percent of all such channels.
        (D) An operator of any cable system with fewer than 36 activated 
    channels shall not be required to designate channel capacity for 
    commercial use by persons unaffiliated with the operator, unless the 
    cable system is required to provide such channel capacity under the 
    terms of a franchise in effect on October 30, 1984.
        (E) An operator of any cable system in operation on October 30, 
    1984, shall not be required to remove any service actually being 
    provided on July 1, 1984, in order to comply with this section, but 
    shall make channel capacity available for commercial use as such 
    capacity becomes available until such time as the cable operator is 
    in full compliance with this section.

    (2) Any Federal agency, State, or franchising authority may not 
require any cable system to designate channel capacity for commercial 
use by unaffiliated persons in excess of the capacity specified in 
paragraph (1), except as otherwise provided in this section.
    (3) A cable operator may not be required, as part of a request for 
proposals or as part of a proposal for renewal, subject to section 546 
of this title, to designate channel capacity for any use (other than 
commercial use by unaffiliated persons under this section) except as 
provided in sections 531 and 557 of this title, but a cable operator may 
offer in a franchise, or proposal for renewal thereof, to provide, 
consistent with applicable law, such capacity for other than commercial 
use by such persons.
    (4) A cable operator may use any unused channel capacity designated 
pursuant to this section until the use of such channel capacity is 
obtained, pursuant to a written agreement, by a person unaffiliated with 
the operator.
    (5) For the purposes of this section, the term ``commercial use'' 
means the provision of video programming, whether or not for profit.
    (6) Any channel capacity which has been designated for public, 
educational, or governmental use may not be considered as designated 
under this section for commercial use for purpose of this section.

(c) Use of channel capacity by unaffiliated persons; editorial control; 
        restriction on service; rules on rates, terms, and conditions

    (1) If a person unaffiliated with the cable operator seeks to use 
channel capacity designated pursuant to subsection (b) of this section 
for commercial use, the cable operator shall establish, consistent with 
the purpose of this section and with rules prescribed by the Commission 
under paragraph (4), the price, terms, and conditions of such use which 
are at least sufficient to assure that such use will not adversely 
affect the operation, financial condition, or market development of the 
cable system.
    (2) A cable operator shall not exercise any editorial control over 
any video programming provided pursuant to this section, or in any other 
way consider the content of such programming, except that a cable 
operator may refuse to transmit any leased access program or portion of 
a leased access program which contains obscenity, indecency, or nudity 
and may consider such content to the minimum extent necessary to 
establish a reasonable price for the commercial use of designated 
channel capacity by an unaffiliated person.
    (3) Any cable system channel designated in accordance with this 
section shall not be used to provide a cable service that is being 
provided over such system on October 30, 1984, if the provision of such 
programming is intended to avoid the purpose of this section.
    (4)(A) The Commission shall have the authority to--
        (i) determine the maximum reasonable rates that a cable operator 
    may establish pursuant to paragraph (1) for commercial use of 
    designated channel capacity, including the rate charged for the 
    billing of rates to subscribers and for the collection of revenue 
    from subscribers by the cable operator for such use;
        (ii) establish reasonable terms and conditions for such use, 
    including those for billing and collection; and
        (iii) establish procedures for the expedited resolution of 
    disputes concerning rates or carriage under this section.

    (B) Within 180 days after October 5, 1992, the Commission shall 
establish rules for determining maximum reasonable rates under 
subparagraph (A)(i), for establishing terms and conditions under 
subparagraph (A)(ii), and for providing procedures under subparagraph 
(A)(iii).

(d) Right of action in district court; relief; factors not to be 
        considered by court

    Any person aggrieved by the failure or refusal of a cable operator 
to make channel capacity available for use pursuant to this section may 
bring an action in the district court of the United States for the 
judicial district in which the cable system is located to compel that 
such capacity be made available. If the court finds that the channel 
capacity sought by such person has not been made available in accordance 
with this section, or finds that the price, terms, or conditions 
established by the cable operator are unreasonable, the court may order 
such system to make available to such person the channel capacity 
sought, and further determine the appropriate price, terms, or 
conditions for such use consistent with subsection (c) of this section, 
and may award actual damages if it deems such relief appropriate. In any 
such action, the court shall not consider any price, term, or condition 
established between an operator and an affiliate for comparable 
services.

(e) Petition to Commission; relief

    (1) Any person aggrieved by the failure or refusal of a cable 
operator to make channel capacity available pursuant to this section may 
petition the Commission for relief under this subsection upon a showing 
of prior adjudicated violations of this section. Records of previous 
adjudications resulting in a court determination that the operator has 
violated this section shall be considered as sufficient for the showing 
necessary under this subsection. If the Commission finds that the 
channel capacity sought by such person has not been made available in 
accordance with this section, or that the price, terms, or conditions 
established by such system are unreasonable under subsection (c) of this 
section, the Commission shall, by rule or order, require such operator 
to make available such channel capacity under price, terms, and 
conditions consistent with subsection (c) of this section.
    (2) In any case in which the Commission finds that the prior 
adjudicated violations of this section constitute a pattern or practice 
of violations by an operator, the Commission may also establish any 
further rule or order necessary to assure that the operator provides the 
diversity of information sources required by this section.
    (3) In any case in which the Commission finds that the prior 
adjudicated violations of this section constitute a pattern or practice 
of violations by any person who is an operator of more than one cable 
system, the Commission may also establish any further rule or order 
necessary to assure that such person provides the diversity of 
information sources required by this section.

(f) Presumption of reasonableness and good faith

    In any action brought under this section in any Federal district 
court or before the Commission, there shall be a presumption that the 
price, terms, and conditions for use of channel capacity designated 
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section are reasonable and in good 
faith unless shown by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.

(g) Promulgation of rules

    Notwithstanding sections 541(c) and 543(a) of this title, at such 
time as cable systems with 36 or more activated channels are available 
to 70 percent of households within the United States and are subscribed 
to by 70 percent of the households to which such systems are available, 
the Commission may promulgate any additional rules necessary to provide 
diversity of information sources. Any rules promulgated by the 
Commission pursuant to this subsection shall not preempt authority 
expressly granted to franchising authorities under this subchapter.

(h) Cable service unprotected by Constitution

    Any cable service offered pursuant to this section shall not be 
provided, or shall be provided subject to conditions, if such cable 
service in the judgment of the franchising authority or the cable 
operator is obscene, or is in conflict with community standards in that 
it is lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent or is otherwise unprotected 
by the Constitution of the United States. This subsection shall permit a 
cable operator to enforce prospectively a written and published policy 
of prohibiting programming that the cable operator reasonably believes 
describes or depicts sexual or excretory activities or organs in a 
patently offensive manner as measured by contemporary community 
standards.

(i) Programming from qualified minority or educational programming 
        sources

    (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of 
this section, a cable operator required by this section to designate 
channel capacity for commercial use may use any such channel capacity 
for the provision of programming from a qualified minority programming 
source or from any qualified educational programming source, whether or 
not such source is affiliated with the cable operator. The channel 
capacity used to provide programming from a qualified minority 
programming source or from any qualified educational programming source 
pursuant to this subsection may not exceed 33 percent of the channel 
capacity designated pursuant to this section. No programming provided 
over a cable system on July 1, 1990, may qualify as minority programming 
or educational programming on that cable system under this subsection.
    (2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ``qualified minority 
programming source'' means a programming source which devotes 
substantially all of its programming to coverage of minority viewpoints, 
or to programming directed at members of minority groups, and which is 
over 50 percent minority-owned, as the term ``minority'' is defined in 
section 309(i)(3)(C)(ii) of this title.
    (3) For purposes of this subsection, the term ``qualified 
educational programming source'' means a programming source which 
devotes substantially all of its programming to educational or 
instructional programming that promotes public understanding of 
mathematics, the sciences, the humanities, and the arts and has a 
documented annual expenditure on programming exceeding $15,000,000. The 
annual expenditure on programming means all annual costs incurred by the 
programming source to produce or acquire programs which are scheduled to 
be televised, and specifically excludes marketing, promotion, satellite 
transmission and operational costs, and general administrative costs.
    (4) Nothing in this subsection shall substitute for the requirements 
to carry qualified noncommercial educational television stations as 
specified under section 535 of this title.

(j) Single channel access to indecent programming

    (1) Within 120 days following October 5, 1992, the Commission shall 
promulgate regulations designed to limit the access of children to 
indecent programming, as defined by Commission regulations, and which 
cable operators have not voluntarily prohibited under subsection (h) of 
this section by--
        (A) requiring cable operators to place on a single channel all 
    indecent programs, as identified by program providers, intended for 
    carriage on channels designated for commercial use under this 
    section;
        (B) requiring cable operators to block such single channel 
    unless the subscriber requests access to such channel in writing; 
    and
        (C) requiring programmers to inform cable operators if the 
    program would be indecent as defined by Commission regulations.

    (2) Cable operators shall comply with the regulations promulgated 
pursuant to paragraph (1).

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VI, Sec. 612, as added Pub. L. 98-549, 
Sec. 2, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2782; amended Pub. L. 102-385, Secs. 9, 
10(a), (b), Oct. 5, 1992, 106 Stat. 1484, 1486; Pub. L. 104-104, title 
V, Sec. 506(b), Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 137.)


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 104-104 substituted ``a cable operator 
may refuse to transmit any leased access program or portion of a leased 
access program which contains obscenity, indecency, or nudity and'' for 
``an operator''.
    1992--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 9(a), inserted ``to promote 
competition in the delivery of diverse sources of video programming 
and'' after ``purpose of this section is''.
    Subsec. (b)(5). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 9(d), amended par. (5) 
generally. Prior to amendment, par. (5) read as follows: ``For the 
purposes of this section--
        ``(A) the term `activated channels' means those channels 
    engineered at the headend of the cable system for the provision of 
    services generally available to residential subscribers of the cable 
    system, regardless of whether such services actually are provided, 
    including any channel designated for public, educational, or 
    governmental use; and
        ``(B) the term `commercial use' means the provision of video 
    programming, whether or not for profit.''
    Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 9(b)(1), inserted ``and with 
rules prescribed by the Commission under paragraph (4)'' after ``purpose 
of this section''.
    Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 9(b)(2), added par. (4).
    Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 10(a), inserted ``or the cable 
operator'' after ``franchising authority'' and inserted at end ``This 
subsection shall permit a cable operator to enforce prospectively a 
written and published policy of prohibiting programming that the cable 
operator reasonably believes describes or depicts sexual or excretory 
activities or organs in a patently offensive manner as measured by 
contemporary community standards.''
    Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 9(c), added subsec. (i).
    Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 10(b), added subsec. (j).


                    Effective Date of 1992 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 102-385 effective 60 days after Oct. 5, 1992, 
see section 28 of Pub. L. 102-385, set out as a note under section 325 
of this title.


                             Effective Date

    Section effective 60 days after Oct. 30, 1984, except where 
otherwise expressly provided, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 98-549, set 
out as a note under section 521 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 541, 543, 558, 573 of this 
title.
