HEAVY LOBBYING TARGETS INTERNET ACCESS, LAND USE.Byline: Alexa Haussler Staff Writer The heaviest spending on lobbyists at Los Angeles City Hall in recent months was aimed at influencing the City Council's decisions on cable Internet Internet access via cable TV. There are two kinds of service. One uses a cable modem to connect to a computer, and the other uses an enhanced cable box that provides Internet access directly at the TV. Both of these differ from MSN TV, which requires a phone line or network connection to gain access to the Internet. See cable modem, WorldGate and MSN TV.  access and land developments, including one in the San Fernando Valley, according to a city report issued Wednesday. Between June 30 and Sept. 30, the most-lobbied issue was the debate over the city's ``open access'' policy involving cable TV systems, according to the report by the city Ethics Commission. Those arguing for or against open access - which has been the most heavily lobbied issue of the past 18 months - spent $349,254 on lobbying lobbying, practice and profession of influencing governmental decisions, carried out by agents who present the concerns of special interests to legislators and administrators. The term originated in the United States of the 1830s, when representatives of interest groups tended to congregate in the lobbies of Congress and state legislatures. It is now used in a broader sense to include attempts to influence any governmental actions. during the three months covered by the report. Development proposals racked up the next highest amounts. Those include $187,539 in lobbying outlays for the developers of the Playa Vista project, where the discovery of methane gas has delayed the issuing of bonds to pay for community facilities. Also, $160,418 was reported in lobbying for a proposal that called for demolition of the 50-year-old Chase Knolls Apartment Complex in Sherman Oaks and construction of luxury apartments. |
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