(a) For the purposes of this chapter, the following words, terms, phrases, and abbreviations and their similar formulations shall have the meanings given them in this chapter or, as appropriate, in Chapters 1.04, 2.08, 2.30 and 12.04 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code and in the Charter of the city of Palo Alto ("Charter"), as may be amended from time to time, unless the context indicates otherwise. Words not defined in this chapter or other chapters of the Palo Alto Municipal Code shall have the same meaning as established in Title VI of Title 47 of the United States Code, and, if not defined therein, their common and ordinary meaning. References to governmental entities (whether persons or entities) shall refer to those entities or their successors in authority. If a specific provision of law referred to in this chapter should be renumbered, then the reference shall be read to refer to the renumbered provision. References to any law shall be interpreted broadly to cover government actions, however nominated, including any law now in force or subsequently enacted or amended.
(1) "Access," "PEG access," or "PEG use" means the availability of a cable system or open video system for public, educational or governmental use (including institutional network use) by various agencies, institutions, organizations, groups, and individuals, including the city and its designated access providers, to acquire, create and distribute programming not under a franchisee's editorial control, including, but not limited to:
(A) "Public access" or "public use" means access where organizations, groups or individual members of the general public, on a non-discriminatory basis, are the primary or designated programmers or users having editorial control over their programming;
(B) "Educational access" or "educational use" means access where accredited educational institutions are the primary or designated programmers or users having editorial control over their programming; and
(C) "Governmental access" or "governmental use" means access where governmental institutions or their designees are the primary or designated programmers or users having editorial control over their programming.
(2) "Affiliate" means a person that, directly or indirectly, owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, another person.
(3) "Basic service" means any service tier regularly provided to all subscribers which includes the retransmission of one or more local television broadcast signals.
(4) "Cable Act" means the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, 47 U.S.C. §§ 521 et seq., as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, Pub. L. No. 102-385, 106 Stat. 1460, and as further amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56.
(5) "Cable communications system" or "system" means both open video systems and cable systems.
(6) "Cable coordinator" means the individual or individuals designated by the city to administer a cable communications system franchise.
(7) "Cable system" means a facility, consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception, and control equipment that is designed to provide cable service, including video programming, that is provided to multiple subscribers within a community, but such term does not include:
(A) A facility that serves only to retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations;
(B) A facility that serves subscribers without using, or connecting to a facility that uses, any portion of the public rights-of-way within the city;
(C) A facility of a common carrier which is subject, in whole or in part, to the provisions of Title II (Common Carriers) of the Communications Act of 1934, except that such facility shall be considered a cable system to the extent such facility is used in the transmission of video programming directly to subscribers, unless the extent of such use is solely to provide interactive on-demand services;
(D) Any facility of an electric utility used solely for operating its electric utility systems; or
(E) An OVS that is certified by the FCC.
Any reference to a cable system includes the cable system as a whole or any part thereof, including, but not limited to, pedestals, equipment cabinets, electronic equipment, amplifiers, power guards, nodes, cables, fiber optics and other equipment necessary or useful to operate the cable system.
(8) "Cable service" means:
(A) The one-way transmission to subscribers of (i) video programming, or (ii) other programming service; and
(B) Subscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection or use of such video programming or other programming service.
(9) "Cable modem" means a device used to transmit data over a cable communications system.
(10) "Cable modem service" means an Internet access service provided by an operator or its affiliates over a cable communications system. "Cable modem services" shall not include "dial-up" access to the Internet services of the operator or its affiliates.
(11) "Channel" means a portion of the electromagnetic frequency spectrum which is used in a cable system or an open video system and which is capable of delivering a television signal whether in an analog or digital format. The definition does not restrict the use of any channel to the transmission of analog television signals.
(12) "City" means the government of the city of Palo Alto, a chartered city and a municipal corporation duly organized and validly existing under the laws of the state of California, and all departments, divisions, and offices thereof.
(13) "City attorney" means the individual who is designated as the city attorney of the city under Section 2.08.120 of Chapter 2.08 of Title 2 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, and any individual who is designated as the representative of the city attorney.
(14) "City clerk" means the individual who is designated as the city clerk of the city under Section 2.08.110 of Chapter 2.08 of Title 2 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, and any individual who is designated as the representative of the city clerk.
(15) "Construction, operation, maintenance or repair" or "construction, operation, maintenance and repair" or words of similar import means the named actions interpreted broadly, encompassing, among other things, installation, extension, maintenance, replacement of components, relocation, undergrounding, grading, site preparation, adjusting, testing, make-ready, and excavation.
(16) "Council" means the council of the city of Palo Alto exercising all powers necessary and appropriate pursuant to Article III of the Charter.
(17) "Director of administrative services" means the individual who is designated as the director of administrative services of the city under Section 2.08.150 of Chapter 2.08 of Title 2 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, and any individual who is designated as the representative of the director of administrative services.
(18) "Director of public works" means the individual who is designated as the director of public works of the city under Section 2.08.190 of Chapter 2.08 of Title 2 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, and any individual who is designated as the representative of the director of public works.
(19) "Director of utilities" means the individual who is designated as the director of utilities of the city under Section 2.08.200 of Chapter 2.08 of Title 2 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, and any individual who is designated as the representative of the director of utilities.
(20) "Downstream channel" means a channel designed and activated to carry a transmission from the headend to other points on a cable communications system, including interconnections.
(21) "FCC" means the Federal Communications Commission.
(22) "Franchise" means an authorization granted by the city to the operator of a cable communications system giving the operator the non-exclusive right to occupy the space, or use facilities upon, across, beneath, or over public rights-of-way in the city to provide cable communications services therein.
(23) "Franchise area" means the area of the city that a franchisee is authorized to serve by the terms of its franchise or by operation of law.
(24) "Franchisee" means a person holding a cable communications system franchise granted by the city.
(25) "Gross revenues" mean any and all revenue of a "cable operator" (as defined in the Cable Act), of any kind, nature or form, without deduction, derived from the operation of a cable communications system to provide cable service. "Gross revenues" shall be construed as broadly as permitted by the Cable Act and any other applicable law. By way of example and not limitation, "gross revenues" shall include, but are not limited to, revenues from basic service, cable programming services, any per-channel or per-program services, equipment sales and rentals, cable modem services, installation services, disconnection services, reconnection services, late fees and other subscriber charges, and revenues from the carriage of programming, advertising, and shopping services. "Gross revenues" shall be construed to include revenues of affiliates (other than those revenues, which are already treated as the revenues of the franchisee), to the full extent necessary to prevent the avoidance or evasion of any and all fees owed on gross revenues. "Gross revenues" shall not include: (A) the revenue of any person, including, without limitation, an affiliate or a provider of video programming services to a cable communications system operator, to the extent that the revenue is included in the gross revenues of that operator; (B) taxes imposed by law on subscribers by a taxing authority, which taxes a cable communication system operator is obligated to collect and remit to the taxing authority, provided, however, that neither the fee imposed by Sections 2.10.250 and 2.10.350 hereby, nor any tax or fee imposed on the operator (as opposed to the subscriber) shall be deemed to be such a tax; (C) any gains realized in the sale or disposition of capital assets and other tangible property of the operator; and (D) bad debts, provided, however, that the recovery of bad debts shall be included in gross revenues to the extent that such bad debts are subsequently collected.
(26) "Headend" means a combination of equipment at a location within a cable communications system where signals are received and processed for distribution to other points on the cable communications system.
(27) "Hertz" means a measure of the electromagnetic frequency spectrum.
(28) "Internet" means the myriad of facilities, including, but not limited to, computer equipment and software, comprising the interconnected networks that employ the TCP/IP, or any predecessor or successor protocols to TCP/IP, to communicate information.
(29) "Internet service provider" means a person, including, but not limited to, an operator of a cable communications system, who provides access to the Internet, or who otherwise furnishes a service that enables users to gain access to other services or offerings over the Internet.
(30) "Law" means any administrative, legislative or judicial act, decision, bill, certificate, charter, code, constitution, opinion, order, ordinance, policy, procedure, rate, regulation, resolution, rule, schedule, specification, statute, tariff, or other requirement of any federal, California, state, regional, county, municipal, local, or joint powers agency, or any other agency having joint or several jurisdiction over the city, a franchisee or an operator, including, but not limited to, any regulation or order of an official or quasi-official entity or body, now in force or hereinafter amended from time to time.
(31) "MHz" means one million Hertz.
(32) "Node" means a point of connection in a network where signals carried on cable are converted to electrical signals for carriage on other cable.
(33) "Operator," when used with reference to a system, means a person (a) who directly or through one or more affiliates provides cable service over a cable communications system and directly or through one or more affiliates owns a significant interest in such facility, or (b) who otherwise controls or is responsible for, through any arrangement, the management and operation of a cable communications system.
(34) "Open video system" or "OVS" means a facility, consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception, and control equipment that is designed to provide cable service, including video programming, that is provided to multiple subscribers within a community, including, but not limited to, pedestals, equipment enclosures (such as equipment cabinets), amplifiers, power guards, nodes, cables, fiber optics and other equipment necessary to operate the OVS, or installed in conjunction with the OVS, the operator of which has been certified by the FCC as an OVS in the city.
(35) "OVS franchise" means a contract entered into in accordance with this chapter between the city and an OVS franchisee setting forth the terms and conditions under which the OVS franchise will be exercised.
(36) "Person" includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, or any other legal entity, but not the city.
(37) "Public rights-of-way" means the surface of and the space above and below any street, road, highway, freeway, bridge, lane, path, alley, court, sidewalk, parkway, drive, or right-of-way or easement primarily dedicated to travel, now or hereafter existing within the city which may be properly used for the purpose of installing, constructing, operating, maintaining, and repairing a cable communications system; and any other property that a franchisee is entitled by California or federal law to use by virtue of the grant of a franchise.
(38) "Public property" means any property that is owned or under the control of the city that is not located in the public rights-of-way, including, for purposes of this chapter, but not limited to, buildings, parks, and pole structures, such as utility poles and light poles, or similar facilities or property owned by or leased to the city.
(39) "School" means any accredited primary school, secondary school, college, and university.
(40) "SEC" means the Securities and Exchange Commission.
(41) "Subscriber" or "customer" means the city or any person who is lawfully receiving, for any purpose or reason, any cable service by means of a cable communications system, whether or not a fee is paid for such service.
(42) "TCP/IP" means the transmission control protocol/Internet protocol, a set of protocols to link computer and/or other networks.
(43) "Upstream channel" means a channel designed and activated to carry transmissions from a point on the cable system, other than the headend, to the headend or another point on the cable system.
(44) "User" means the city or a person using a channel, capacity or equipment and facilities for purposes of producing or transmitting material, as contrasted with the receipt thereof in the capacity of a subscriber.
(Ord. 4636 § 2, 2000)