Conclusion
Public access television is not at all restricted to the United States and Canada. Today, it can be found in such places as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Denmark, Fiji, South Africa, Austria, etc. (Global Village CAT).
In Germany, Kanal Dortmund began operating in June 1985 (Small History). In Brazil, Law 8.977 of June 1, 1995, "requires cable operators to make available" six channels free "for public use, to ensure the exercise of free speech" (História; Legislação).
Through history, the common man has struggled for equal expression in the face of greater advantage flowing to the wealthy elite. This trend has left the common man with no forum but a soapbox on a dying street corner. Today, political will and new technologies, like portable video and cable television, have combined to give the common man a new soapbox - one which, despite attempts to control it, is spreading round the world.
-- Eau Claire, Wisconsin, April 3 to May 12, 2000
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Additional Information
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Shaffer, Wm. Drew & Wheelwright, Richard (editors for the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers). Creating Original Programming for Cable TV. Washington, D.C.: Communications Press, Inc., 1983.