The free speech rights of cable television companies and other distributors of video programming are not violated by a federal law and regulations designed to prevent discrimination against unaffiliated networks, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held Wednesday.
The Second Circuit rejected the First Amendment claim of Time Warner and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, whose members were challenging §616(a)(3) and (5) of the Communications Act of 1934 as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 and the implementing regulations of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
