Terms Used In New York Laws > Public Service > Article 11 - Provisions Relating to Cable Television Companies

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Cable television company: shall mean any person owning, controlling, operating, managing or leasing one or more cable television systems within the state. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Cable television system: shall mean any system which operates for hire the service of receiving and amplifying programs broadcast by one or more television or radio stations or any other programs originated by a cable television company or by any other party, and distributing such programs by wire, cable, microwave or other means, whether such means are owned or leased, to persons in one or more municipalities who subscribe to such service. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Downgrade: shall mean a change in service initiated by the subscriber to a less expensive service tier than the one currently subscribed to. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Franchise: shall mean and include any authorization granted by a municipality in terms of a franchise, privilege, permit, license or other municipal authorization to construct, operate, maintain, or manage a cable television system in any municipality. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Gross annual receipts: shall mean any and all compensation received directly or indirectly by a cable television company from its operations within the state, including but not limited to sums received from subscribers or users in payment for programs received and/or transmitted, advertising and carrier service revenue and any other moneys that constitute income in accordance with the system of accounts approved by the commission. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Master antenna television system: shall mean any system which serves only the residents of one or more apartment dwellings under common ownership, control or management, unless such system uses facilities located in a public right of way to provide service. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Municipality: shall mean any village, town, city or county not wholly contained within a city in the state. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Network: shall mean a group of programs distributed, packaged, promoted or sold to subscribers as the offering of a single entity, including but not limited to, a channel or station. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Network change: shall mean the removal of a network from a service tier whether or not added to another tier or a substantial alteration of the character of a network by a cable television company or an affiliate it controls. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: shall mean any individual, trustee, partnership, association, corporation or other legal entity. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Program: shall mean any broadcast type program, signal, message, graphics, data, or communication content service. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Service tier: shall mean a category of cable television services or other services provided by a cable television company and for which a rate or fee is charged by the cable television company, including, but not limited to, basic services, premium networks or services, recurring pay-per-view services and other categories of cable services for which there are additional charges. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Significant programming change: shall mean the removal or alteration of recurring programming which materially changes the quality or level of programming on a network, provided however, such term shall not include deletions of programs mandated by the regulations of the federal communications commission, nor shall it include deletions of programs that are distributed by the cable television company in lieu of such programs deleted pursuant to such regulations of the federal communications commission. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• State agency: shall mean any office, department, board, commission, bureau, division, public corporation, agency or instrumentality of the state. See N.Y. Public Service Law 212
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.