Tuesday, May 24, 2005

"Overcoming Faith" doesn't apply to deaf people.






Link

Although they say, "Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is
the privilege of all believers (Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 8:16, 17)," one wonders how come they don't want deaf people to know what they're saying.

1. Cathedral submitted a petition for exemption requesting a waiver from compliance with the captioning requirements. It asserts that the program “Overcoming Faith Television” is a locally produced and distributed non-news program with no repeat value, pursuant to Section 79.1(d)(8) of the Commission’s rules. However, the Commission intended that the exemption for locally produced and distributed non-news programming with limited repeat value be a narrowly focused exemption. It is intended to apply only to a limited class of truly local materials, including, for example, local parades, local high school and other nonprofessional sports, live unscripted local talk shows and community theatre productions. Moreover, the Commission concluded that the programming in question would have to be locally created and not networked outside of the local service area or market of a broadcast station. Cathedral fails to explain or provide support for its contention that the scope of its program relates only to local issues and that the program is truly local in nature. In addition, because Cathedral provides no information on the extent of distribution of its program, it is difficult to determine whether Petitioner’s programming reaches beyond its locale. Therefore, because Cathedral has failed to provide sufficient information, we are unable to determine whether the Section 79.1(d)(8) exemption applies here. However, the option of an undue burden exemption still remains available if Petitioner makes the proper showing.
2. Section 79.1(f) requires a petition for exemption from the closed captioning requirements to demonstrate that compliance would cause significant difficulty or expense. Cathedral’s petition, however, fails to disclose detailed information regarding finances and assets, gross or net proceeds, or sponsorships solicited for assisting in captioning. Cathedral provided no documentation from which its financial condition can be assessed. Although Cathedral indicates that it “is not funded or granted in any way by outside sources”, without documentation, it is impossible for the Commission to determine whether Cathedral has sufficient justification supporting an exemption from the closed captioning requirements for its television program. Our decision herein is without prejudice to Cathedral bringing a future petition for exemption that adequately documents that the Section 79.1(d)(8) exemption is applicable to “Overcoming Faith Television” or that compliance with our rules will impose an undue burden. Implicit in the Section 79.1(f) requirement of a showing as to the financial resources of a petitioner, such as Cathedral, is the question of the extent to which the distributors of its programming can be called upon to contribute towards the captioning expense. Thus, any subsequent petition should document whether Cathedral solicited captioning assistance from the distributors of its programming and the response to these solicitations. Absent such a petition, Petitioner is given 3 months from the release date of this Order to come into complete compliance with the rules.


Ouch. That financial bit must sting a little.

For some reason, the Living Word Bible Church has the same problem.


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