Foreign Investment in Cable Television: The United States and Canada

Canadian ownership and control of United States cablevision systems has steadily increased over the past seven years. This has given rise to heated debate concerning the issue of such alien control. The argument to impose citizenship requirements upon cable ownership centers on present citizenship requirements on common carriers and broadcast licensees, and on the issue of trade reciprocity. Rejecting the reciprocity argument as artificial, the author believes that Congress should impose citizenship requirements on cable television ownership, and that these requirements should be based on the policies and rationale of the Communications Act of 1934, which details the true reasons behind foreign ownership limitation