03/30/1994 09:07 AM Senate STA

 CHAIRMAN LEMAN brings up HB 315 (THEFT OF SUBSCRIPTION TV SERVICES)           
 as the next order of business before the Senate State Affairs                 
 Committee.  The chairman calls the first witness.                             
                                                                               
 Number 251                                                                    
                                                                               
 ERIC MUSSER, Aide to Representative Porter, states HB 315 defines             
 theft of cable services and sets out penalties for the unauthorized           
 use or reception of cable transmission.  HB 315 deals primarily               
 with illegal converter boxes.  At this time, the existing theft of            
 services statute is very broad and makes theft of cable services              
 unenforceable.                                                                
                                                                               
 Number 226                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR asks, since estimation of loss is based upon a                 
 certain percentage of the current revenues from subscription cable            
 service, that if cable companies are charging Alaskans rates 700%             
 to 1000% higher for the same level of service found any place else            
 in the United States, that means the actual loss would maybe be               
 150,000$ to 200,000$, and not 1,000,000$ estimated in the sponsor's           
 statement.  What we're really talking about are people who are                
 ripping off the cable companies who are currently ripping us off.             
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR wants to know how he could amend the bill to allow             
 other people to go into the cable business.                                   
                                                                               
 Number 194                                                                    
                                                                               
 MR. MUSSER responds he doesn't think that subject would fit under             
 the title of HB 315.  However, the public utility commission                  
 extension legislation will be coming to the senate soon, and that             
 has in place some changes and would provide a vehicle for that                
 subject.                                                                      
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN LEMAN states the Senate State Affairs Committee has                  
 changed the title in other house legislation, and would not be                
 opposed to doing it a second time.  The chairman asks Ms. Knuth               
 from the Department of Law if she has anything to add.                        
                                                                               
 Number 185                                                                    
                                                                               
 MARGOT KNUTH, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division,                  
 Department of Law says, in response to Senator Taylor's comments,             
 that the cable company has assured the Department of Law that they            
 are passing on their losses to existing consumers.  Although, when            
 asked in a prior committee if they would reduce their monthly                 
 subscription rates if they are not sustaining these losses any                
 more, they indicated they needed time to respond to that question.            
                                                                               
 MS. KNUTH states that, from a prosecution perspective, the benefit            
 of this legislation is that it will identify theft of cable                   
 services by the consumer as the class A misdemeanor offense,                  
 regardless of the actual monetary value of the loss.  So the                  
 prosecution will not need to calculate how many months the theft of           
 services has been occurring.  Ms. Knuth thinks a class A                      
 misdemeanor offense is appropriate to the crime.  At this time, the           
 prosecutor must know exactly what the value of the theft of                   
 services was; this bill will take that part of the guessing game              
 out of the equation.                                                          
 MS. KNUTH states entrepreneurial activity relating to theft of                
 cable services will be a class C felony, which also seems to be an            
 appropriate classification.  She expects this legislation to have             
 a more noticeable deterrent effect than what is usually seen in               
 crime bills.  This is the type of prosecution, where, if it occurs            
 three or four or five times in Anchorage, the word is going to get            
 out.  The Department of Law expects to see a noticeable drop in               
 theft of services.  The Department of Law supports the bill and Ms.           
 Knuth would be glad to answer any questions.                                  
                                                                               
 Number 152                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR MILLER asks if a renter hooks up a television and is not              
 himself paying for the cable service, if that is theft of service.            
                                                                               
                                                                               
 Number 149                                                                    
                                                                               
 MS. KNUTH replies that is not theft of service.  To be engaged in             
 theft of service, the person must engage in knowing conduct that              
 can be proven.  If a person is in a situation where they reasonably           
 believe their landlord is providing this service as a part of the             
 rental, the necessary mental state for this offense is not there.             
 If there comes a point at which the renter figures out that the               
 landlord probably isn't paying for the cable service, and the                 
 renter continues to take advantage of the service, there is a line            
 somewhere that might get crossed.  However, it is fairly common for           
 landlords to provide cable service to apartments.                             
                                                                               
 Number 134                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR MILLER asks how the bill would apply to people who only               
 have one converter box, but their house is wired for more than one            
 television.                                                                   
                                                                               
 MS. KNUTH replies that is not considered theft of service either.             
 There was technical language in HB 315 that, at one point, made it            
 sound as though that situation would be theft of service.  But the     e    
 bill has been redrafted to clearly exclude that situation.  Now,              
 under federal regulations, if a person buys one subscription, it no           
 longer matters how many outlets a person has in their home.                   
                                                                               
 Number 121                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR asks if there are any laws relating to theft of                
 talent.                                                                       
                                                                               
 MS. KNUTH responds there should be laws relating to theft of                  
 talent.                                                                       
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR states the cable companies that used to operate in             
 his area would have someone sit in a motel room in Seattle, record            
 the programs on television, then send the tapes to Alaska.                    
 Subscribers in his area paid through the nose for this service.               
 Senator Taylor wants to know if that shouldn't be illegal, since              
 they were pretty much participating in theft of service also.                 
 Senator Taylor believes it should be a class A felony for cable               
 operators involved in the stealing of talent.                                 
                                                                               
 Number 088                                                                    
                                                                               
 MS. KNUTH says she would have to look into that question.                     
                                                                               
 Number 086                                                                    
                                                                               
 MR. MUSSER adds that area of discussion was raised in previous                
 committees.  There is a distinct difference between someone                   
 receiving a direct signal directly from a satellite transmission,             
 and an individual using a device designed to receive a signal from            
 a cable company.                                                              
                                                                               
 Number 073                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR says the Alaska Marine Highway System used to show             
 movies to people.  The companies who owned the rights to those                
 movies informed the state that, because passengers were charged a             
 fee to be on board, showing those movies was part of the commercial           
 enterprise of transporting passengers.  As a consequence, the state           
 would have to pay those companies a fee for showing movies.                   
 Senator Taylor asks Ms. Knuth if she can get back to the committee            
 on the issue of stealing talent.                                              
                                                                               
 Number 038                                                                    
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN LEMAN says the committee will not be moving HB 315 today.            
 He appreciates the comments.