Sec. 76.981  Negative option billing.

    (a) A cable operator shall not charge a subscriber for any service 
or equipment that the subscriber has not affirmatively requested by 
name. A subscriber's failure to refuse a cable operator's proposal to 
provide such service or equipment is not an affirmative request for 
service or equipment. A subscriber's affirmative request for service or 
equipment may be made orally or in writing.
    (b) The requirements of paragraph (a) of this section shall not 
preclude the adjustment of rates to reflect inflation, cost of living 
and other external costs, the addition or deletion of a specific program 
from a service offering, the addition or deletion of specific channels 
from an existing tier or service, the restructuring or division of 
existing tiers of service, or the adjustment of rates as a result of the 
addition, deletion or substitution of channels pursuant to Sec. 76.922, 
provided that such changes do not constitute a fundamental change in the 
nature of an existing service or tier of service and are otherwise 
consistent with applicable regulations.
    (c) State and local governments may not enforce state and local 
consumer protection laws that conflict with or undermine paragraph (a) 
or (b) of this section or any other sections of this Subpart that were 
established pursuant to Section 3 of the 1992 Cable Act, 47 U.S.C. .

[59 543 FR 62625 , Dec. 6, 1994]