Yolo County Municipal Code Art. 5 Services

Legal and equitable title to the cable television system, including any and all studio facilities and production equipment provided for public, educational, and govemmental access, and all channels for whatever kind or nature, shall be vested in the licensee. (§ 1, Ord. 1095, eff. July 27, 1989)

Within a license area, services provided by a licensee through its cable television system shall be offered uniformly upon nondiscriminatory terms to subscribers and users, and shall not differ based upon geographical location, income levels, racial and ethnic composition; provided, however, that licensee shall be entitled to offer bulk rate discounts to multiple dwelling unit developments, hotels, mobile home parks, and other similar developments or subdivisions. (§ 1, Ord. 1095, eff. July 27, 1989)

No licensee shall remove or offer to remove any potential or existing subscriber antenna, or provide any inducement for removal as a condition respecting the provision of service.

It is not necessarily the County’s intention to prohibit the erection or controlled use of individual television antennae, and no one is or will be required to receive cable communications service or connect with a cable communications system.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit any person from constructing or operating any private noncommercial satellite receiving station to the extent permitted by County, State and Federal law. (§ 1, Ord. 1095, eff. July 27, 1989)

(a) No license issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to expressly or impliedly authorize the licensee to utilize its cable communications system to provide any service in such a manner as to unlawfully damage any business competitor or other third party or violate any statutes or regulations of the United States or State of California. Nor shall any licensee, by act or omission, engage in any anti-competitive practice in violation of any statutes or regulations of the United States or State of California. The provisions of this section shall be enforceable in courts of competent jurisdiction against a licensee by any party who alleges injury as a result of an alleged violation thereof.

(b) Each licensee shall hold harmless, indemnify and defend the County, and its officers, agents and employees from and against any and all suits, claims and liability for damages, penalties, fines, or other relief arising out of, resulting from or in any manner relating to any act or omission by the licensee, the allegation of which could constitute a violation of the provisions of this section. (§ 1, Ord. 1095, eff. July 27, 1989)

During the term of each license, the licensee shall maintain its cable television system in good condition and repair, render efficient service, make repairs promptly, and interrupt service only for good cause and for the shortest time possible. (§ 1, Ord. 1095, eff. July 27, 1989)

No licensee shall deny service, deny access or otherwise discriminate against subscribers, channel users or general citizens on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex. (§ 1, Ord. 1095, eff. July 27, 1989, as amended by § 1, Ord. 1129, eff. November 21, 1991)

Each licensee, and its officers, agents, employees, contractors and subcontractors, shall respect, refrain from invading, and take affirmative action to prevent violation of the privacy of subscribers served by the cable television system and others.

(a) Neither the licensee nor any other person, agency, or entity shall tap, or arrange for the tapping or monitoring of any cable, line, signal input device, or subscriber outlet or receiver for any purpose whatsoever, except that the licensee may conduct tests of the functioning of the system where necessary in order to ensure proper maintenance of the system and to collect performance data for agencies regulating the quality of signals, and the licensee may conduct system-wide or individually addressed “sweeps” for the sole purpose of verifying system integrity (including individual security system integrity), controlling return path transmissions, billing for pay services, or collecting aggregate data on viewing patterns by channel. “Tapping” shall mean observing a communications signal exchange where the observer is neither of the communicating parties, whether the exchange is observed by visual, aural or electronic means, for any purpose whatsoever. The provision of interactive services shall not be construed to be “tapping” or “monitoring” under this section.

(b) The licensee shall not place in any private residence or in any institution any equipment capable of two-way communications without the written consent of the subscriber, and shall not utilize the two-way communications capability of the system for subscriber surveillance of any kind without the written consent of the subscriber specifying how the data collected will be used and by whom. Tenants who occupy premises connected by the system shall be deemed to be subscribers within the meaning of this subsection regardless of who actually pays for the service. The written consents shall be, and shall show on their face that they are, revocable by the subscriber at any time by written communication mailed by the subscriber to the licensee. No penalty shall be invoked for a subscriber’s failure to provide a written consent for his or her revocation thereof, and all written consents shall so state on their face. The licensee shall not make such written consent a condition precedent to receipt by a subscriber of noninteractive service. The provisions of this subsection shall not be deemed to require consent as a condition precedent to system-wide or individually addressed “sweeps” for the sole purpose of verifying system integrity, controlling return-path transmissions, billing for pay services, or collecting aggregate data on viewing patterns by channel.

(c) No cable, line, wire, amplifier, converter, or other piece of equipment associated with cable television system services shall be attached to any residence or other property of a citizen (except within streets) without first securing the written permission of the owner or tenant of the property. If such permission is later revoked, whether by the original or subsequent owner or tenant, the licensee shall remove forthwith all of the equipment and promptly restore the property to its original condition. The licensee shall perform all installations in a workmanlike manner and shall be responsible for any damage to residences or other property caused by the installation.

(d) No licensee or officer, agent or employee thereof shall sell, or otherwise make available, lists of the names and addresses of its subscribers, or any list which identifies, by name or otherwise individual subscriber viewing habits, to any person, agency, or entity for any purpose whatsoever; except that the licensee shall, upon request provide lists of names and addresses of its subscribers to authorized representatives of the Board of Supervisors when the Board of Supervisors deems such information necessary for performance of the regulatory functions of the County. Names and addresses of subscribers within the possession of the County shall not be subject to public inspection or review.

(e) A licensee may release the number of subscribers but only as a total number and as a percentage of the potential subscribers within the license area. When indicating the number of subscribers viewing a particular channel, a licensee shall indicate only the total number of subscribers viewing them during the relevant time and, the percentage of all subscribers which they represent, but not the identity of any subscriber.

(f) No polls or other two-way responses of subscribers shall be conducted whether for commercial purposes, in connection with community use, or otherwise unless the program of which the poll is a part contains an explicit disclosure of the nature, purpose, and prospective use of the results of the poll. The licensee shall supervise and monitor all polls in which responses are received through the cable television system, and shall adopt and enforce through measures which ensure that personally identifiable information concerning a subscriber, including his or her viewing habits and responses or responses to the inquiry or inquiries, is not received by any third party, including the party sponsoring the poll.

(g) A licensee shall not tabulate any test results, nor permit the use of the system of such tabulation, which would reveal the commercial product preferences or opinions of individual subscribers, members of their families or their invitees, licensees or employees, without advance written authorization by the subscriber. (§ 1, Ord. 1095, eff. July 27, 1989)

After public hearings, notice of which is properly given, the Board of Supervisors shall, from time to time, be authorized to enact technical standards applicable to the operation, maintenance, repair, replacement or functioning of a cable television system for the purpose of improving or maintaining quality of video or audio signals, freedom from interference, reliability of service delivery, or other similar types of functional characteristics of the system. Each licensee shall take such actions as are necessary to comply with such standards, and the failure to do so shall constitute a material violation and breach of the license. (§ 1, Ord. 1095, eff. July 27, 1989)

No licensee shall discriminate in employment or selection of contractors or subcontractors on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex (including marital status). Each licensee shall strictly comply with the Equal Employment Opportunity Regulations promulgated by the FCC, and all applicable Federal and State statutes and regulations and ordinances of the County. Each licensee shall establish as objectives the employment of a work force based upon merit and achievement of a racial balance within its work force consistent with that which pertains within the residential population of the County. (§ 1, Ord. 1095, eff. July 27, 1989)