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quote:

J- Wilson - you don't have a First Amendment right to appear... to take part in somebody else's broadcast....

P- Mosher - so you're declaring the cable access channel something "they" own... it's not a public property, it's a property of the committee of Mendham Township.

J- Wilson - No what I'm saying is you can go get your own access channel if you want to.

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quote:

A "leased channel" is a channel that federal law requires a cable system operator to reserve for commercial lease by unaffiliated third parties. About 10 to 15 percent of a cable system's channels would typically fall into this category. See 47 U.S.C. § 532(b). "[P]ublic, educational, or governmental channels" (which we shall call "public access" channels) are channels that, over the years, local governments have required cable system operators to set aside for public, educational, or governmental purposes as part of the consideration an operator gives in return for permission to install cables under city streets and to use public rights of way. See §531; see also H. R. Rep. No. 98-934, p. 30 (1984) (authorizing local authorities to require creation of public access channels). Between 1984 and 1992 federal law (as had much pre-1984 state law, in respect to public access channels) prohibited cable system operators from exercising any editorial control over the content of any program broadcast over either leased or public access channels. See 47 U.S.C. §§ 531(e) (public access), 532(c)(2) (leased access).

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