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Changing The "Fourth Channels": Taiwan Tunes In To A New Cable Television Law, Sophia R. Byrd

Washington International Law Journal

Threatened with potentially massive trade sanctions by the United States, Taiwan enacted the Cable Television Law in 1993 to regulate the so-called "Fourth Channels," hundreds of private cable operations that transmitted programming pirated from the United States and other sources. This Comment identifies the roots of the Fourth Channels and examines the U.S. and Taiwanese forces that gave rise to the cable law. The Comment analyzes major provisions of the law and explores the law's effects on both U.S. and Taiwanese interests.