Court steps in amid public access concerns
January 14, 2008
By DAVID ASHENFELTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A federal judge late Monday temporarily halted Comcast cable's plans to move community access channels higher up the dial today, putting them beyond the reach of thousands of Michigan cable subscribers with analog televisions.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts in Detroit temporarily prevents Comcast from moving PEG -- public, educational and governmental access -- channels across the state into the 900-level digital range. The move would require subscribers with analog televisions to buy digital cable-ready televisions or rent or buy a digital converter box for each set to continue receiving those channels.
Comcast, which offered to provide customers with a free converter box -- a $4-a-month value -- for one year, said the move was designed to free up bandwidth so it could offer more services, including high-definition channels, to its tech-hungry customers.
"While the court agrees there are some general benefits with digitizing channels, it finds the public interest is better served by the temporary preservation of the PEG channels in their analog format so the public may maintain access to vital information," Roberts said in the 16-page decision.
The court order was issued in response to a lawsuit filed Friday by Dearborn and Meridian Township in suburban Lansing. The communities said Comcast planned the change without consulting with the communities, in violation of state and federal law, and that up to 400,000 customers statewide who couldn't afford to pay for a converter box would lose access to community news. The suit also charged that the communities would lose a vital way of communicating with residents.
There was no immediate comment from Comcast about the decision.
"Hopefully, this reminds Comcast of their obligation to all subscribers," said Meridian Township attorney Michael Watza of Detroit. "And the communities and Comcast can renew our partnership that we've enjoyed for so many years."
He said Comcast could appeal the decision or delay any action until after Roberts or a jury rules on the merits of the lawsuit.
Earlier Monday, Macomb County Circuit Judge David Viviano, issued a similar order in response to a lawsuit filed Monday by the City of Warren. Viviano set a hearing next Tuesday for the two sides to argue the merits of a more permanent order.
Comcast said the lawsuits by the three communities were baseless.
Roberts issued her decision after a confusing and sometimes contentious hearing in Detroit on Monday in which she repeatedly chastised Comcast's lawyer, Robert Scott of Washington, D.C., for failing to abide by the court's civility rule.
A lawyer for the communities said Comcast's plans violate state and federal law.
"These aren't channels they own," their attorney, Joe Van Eaton, also of Washington, D.C., told Roberts. "They're the communities' channels."
Comcast lawyer Scott disputed that Comcast's move would violate federal or state law, saying there are no statutes that allow communities to dictate where cable providers place PEG service. He also said Comcast, unlike its competitors, has provided free cable service to public schools in Michigan and that some of Comcast's competitors don't carry PEG channels.
Scott also said the communities waited too long to ask for the injunction.
"The cities have had 60 days and waited 55 before coming to court to stop this activity," he said. He said it's unfair to present a judge with such complicated legal and technical issues on such short notice.
Comcast employees who testified at Monday's hearing said only about 12,000 of its 400,000 nondigital customers have signed up for a free converter box, but said there are enough boxes for anyone who wants one.
Comcast said in court papers that the PEG switch is part of an industrywide conversion from analog televisions to digital.
Although Congress has mandated broadcasters convert from analog to digital signals in February 2009, Comcast and other cable companies can continue providing analog service. Comcast said it planned to do so for the time being.
Contact DAVID ASHENFELTER at 313-223-4490 or dashenfelter@freepress.com.
