§  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 § 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. 543.

   [ 59 FR 62625 , Dec. 6, 1994]