§ 76.1700 - Records to be maintained by cable system operators.

§ 76.1700 Records to be maintained by cable system operators.

(a) Public inspection file. The following records must be placed in the online public file hosted by the Commission, except as indicated in paragraph (d) of this section.

(1) Political file. All requests for cablecast time made by or on behalf of a candidate for public office and all other information required to be maintained pursuant to § 76.1701;

(2) Equal employment opportunity. All EEO materials described in § 76.1702 except for any EEO program annual reports, which the Commission will link to the electronic version of all systems' public inspection files;

(3) Commercial records on children's programs. Sufficient records to verify compliance with § 76.225 in accordance with § 76.1703;

(4) [Reserved]

(5) Leased access. If a cable operator adopts and enforces written policy regarding indecent leased access programming, such a policy shall be published in accordance with § 76.1707;

(6) Availability of signals. The operator of every cable television system shall maintain a list of all broadcast television stations carried by its system in fulfillment of the must-carry requirements in accordance with § 76.1709;

(7) Operator interests in video programming. Cable operators shall maintain records regarding the nature and extent of their attributable interests in all video programming services as well as information regarding their carriage of such vertically integrated video programming services on cable systems in which they have an attributable interests in accordance with § 76.1710; [Reserved]

(8) Sponsorship identification. Whenever sponsorship announcements are omitted pursuant to § 76.1615(f) of Subpart T, the cable television system operator shall maintain a list in accordance with § 76.1715;

(9) Compatibility with consumer electronics equipment. Cable system operators generally may not scramble or otherwise encrypt signals carried on the basic service tier. Copies of requests for waivers of this prohibition must be available in the public inspection file in accordance with § 76.630.

(b) Information available to the franchisor. These records must be made available by cable system operators to local franchising authorities on reasonable notice and during regular business hours, except as indicated in paragraph (d) of this section.

(1) Proof-of-performance test data. The proof of performance tests shall be made available upon request in accordance with § 76.1704;

(2) Complaint resolution. Cable system operators shall establish a process for resolving complaints from subscribers about the quality of the television signal delivered. Aggregate data based upon these complaints shall be made available for inspection in accordance with § 76.1713.

(c) Information available to the Commission. These records must be made available by cable system operators to the Commission on reasonable notice and during regular business hours, except as indicated in paragraph (d) of this section.

(1) Proof-of-performance test data. The proof of performance tests shall be made available upon request in accordance with § 76.1704;

(2) Signal leakage logs and repair records. Cable operators shall maintain a log showing the date and location of each leakage source in accordance with § 76.1706;

(3) Emergency alert system and activations. Every cable system shall keep a record of each test and activation of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The test is performed pursuant to the procedures and requirements of part 11 of this chapter and the EAS Operating Handbook. The records are kept in accordance with part 11 of this chapter and § 76.1711;

(4) Complaint resolution. Cable system operators shall establish a process for resolving complaints from subscribers about the quality of the television signal delivered. Aggregate data based upon these complaints shall be made available for inspection in accordance with § 76.1713;

(5) Subscriber records and public inspection file. The operator of a cable television system shall make the system, its public inspection file, and its records of subscribers available for inspection upon request in accordance with § 76.1716.

(d) Exceptions to the public inspection file requirements. The operator of every cable television system having fewer than 1,000 subscribers is exempt from the online public file and from the public record requirements contained in § 76.1701 (political file); § 76.1702 (EEO records available for public inspection); § 76.1703 (commercial records for children's programming); § 76.1704 (proof-of-performance test data); § 76.1706 (signal leakage logs and repair records); § 76.1714 (Familiarity with FCC rules); and § 76.1715 (sponsorship identification).

(e) Location of records. For cable television systems exempt from the online public file requirement pursuant to paragraph (d) of this section, public file material that continues to be retained at the system shall be retained in a public inspection file maintained at the office in the community served by the system that the system operator maintains for the ordinary collection of subscriber charges, resolution of subscriber complaints, and other business and, if the system operator does not maintain such an office in the community, at any accessible place in the communities served by the system (such as a public registry for documents or an attorney's office). Public file locations will be open at least during normal business hours and will be conveniently located. The public inspection file shall be available for public inspection at any time during regular business hours for the facility where they are kept. All or part of the public inspection file may be maintained in a computer database, as long as a computer terminal capable of accessing the database is made available, at the location of the file, to members of the public who wish to review the file.

(f) Links and contact and geographic information. A system must provide a link to the public inspection file hosted on the Commission's website from the home page of its own website, if the system has a website, and provide contact information on its website for a system representative who can assist any person with disabilities with issues related to the content of the public files. A system also is required to include in the online public file the address of the system's local public file, if the system is exempt from the online public file requirement pursuant to paragraph (d) of this section but opts to use it in part while retaining certain documents in the local file that are not available in the Commission's online file, and the name, phone number, and email address of the system's designated contact for questions about the public file. In addition, a system must provide on the online public file a list of the five digit ZIP codes served by the system. To the extent this section refers to the local public inspection file, it refers to the public file of a physical system, which is either maintained at the location described in paragraph (e) of this section or on the Commission's website, depending upon where the documents are required to be maintained under the Commission's rules.

(g) Reproduction of records. Copies of any material in the public inspection file that is not also available in the Commission's online file shall be available for machine reproduction upon request made in person, provided the requesting party shall pay the reasonable cost of reproduction. Requests for machine copies shall be fulfilled at a location specified by the system operator, within a reasonable period of time, which in no event shall be longer than seven days. The system operator is not required to honor requests made by mail but may do so if it chooses.

[81 FR 10125, Feb. 29, 2016, as amended at 82 FR 11412, Feb. 23, 2017; 83 FR 13683, Mar. 30, 2018; 84 FR 18409, May 1, 2019; 85 FR 21078, Apr. 16, 2020; 85 FR 73429, Nov. 18, 2020]