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The Information Quality Act: The Little Statute That Could (Or Couldn't?) Applying The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments Of 1996 To The Federal Communications Commission, Kellen Ressmeyer
Federal Communications Law Journal
In December 2000, Congress passed the Information Quality Act - a two sentence rider to a 712-page Appropriations Bill. The Information Quality Act, which seeks to ensure the quality of government-disseminated information, places the White House Office of Management and Budget in a supervisory role. The Office of Management and Budget subsequently finalized a set of mandatory Guidelines applicable to all federal agencies. Among other things, the Guidelines require adherence to the scientific standard articulated in the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act where such agencies engage in risk analysis to human health, safety, and the environment. As …
The 1996 Telecommunications Act: Ten Years Later, Pat Aufderheide
The 1996 Telecommunications Act: Ten Years Later, Pat Aufderheide
Federal Communications Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Open Video Systems: Too Much Regulation Too Late?, Micha Botein
Open Video Systems: Too Much Regulation Too Late?, Micha Botein
Federal Communications Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Interconnection Policy And Technological Progress, Gerald W. Brock
Interconnection Policy And Technological Progress, Gerald W. Brock
Federal Communications Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Swallows, Sausages, And The 1996 Act, Daniel B. Phythyon
Swallows, Sausages, And The 1996 Act, Daniel B. Phythyon
Federal Communications Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Ten Years Under The 1996 Telecommunications Act, Reed Hundt
Ten Years Under The 1996 Telecommunications Act, Reed Hundt
Federal Communications Law Journal
Keynote speech delivered at the Telecommunications Act of 1996: Ten Years Later Symposium, February 6, 2006, George Washington University.
Endangered Species, Lassoes, And Unmet Promises, Kathleen Wallman
Endangered Species, Lassoes, And Unmet Promises, Kathleen Wallman
Federal Communications Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Responses By The Federal Communications Commission To Worldcom's Accounting Fraud, Warren G. Lavey
Responses By The Federal Communications Commission To Worldcom's Accounting Fraud, Warren G. Lavey
Federal Communications Law Journal
WorldCom's disclosure of billions of dollars of financial fraud on June 25, 2002 challenged the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") in several major ways. The FCC proclaimed its commitment to enforce its rules to protect consumers against service discontinuance as well as the priority of rooting out corporate fraud. The FCC's rules required WorldCom to file accurate financial information and to show that it had financial and character qualifications necessary to hold FCC licenses. Despite numerous related proceedings and other actions in 2001 and early 2002, the FCC had not detected nor deterred WorldCom's fraud. After the disclosure, WorldCom continued its …
Brand X And The Wireline Broadband Report And Order: The Beginning Of The End Of The Distinction Between Title I And Title Ii Services, J. Steven Rich
Brand X And The Wireline Broadband Report And Order: The Beginning Of The End Of The Distinction Between Title I And Title Ii Services, J. Steven Rich
Federal Communications Law Journal
This Article traces the development of the FCC's distinction between "telecommunications services" subject to common carrier services under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act and "information services" regulated under Title I of the Act from the Computer Inquiry line of cases through the Brand X decision and recent Wireline Broadband Report and Order. The Author pays particular attention to the Brand X decision and the FCC's Wireline Broadband Order and its implications, suggesting that the Order may be subject to reversal when it is challenged in court and proposing how the Commission might react to a reversal. The Author …
Rethinking Reform Of The Fcc: A Reply To Randolph May, Russ Taylor
Rethinking Reform Of The Fcc: A Reply To Randolph May, Russ Taylor
Federal Communications Law Journal
This brief Article responds to Randolph May's article, Recent Developments in Administrative Law-The FCC's Tumultuous Year in 2003: An Essay on an Opportunity for Institutional Agency Reform, 56 Admin. L. Rev. 1307 (2004). Taylor disputes May's anecdotal evidence that the FCC's poor handling of the Triennial Review and the media ownership proceedings are symptomatic of a broad agency inefficiency that should be remedied by drastically cutting the size of the FCC and placing it under the exclusive control of the executive branch to ensure electoral accountability. Taylor argues that while these suggestions may have value, such a rush to action …
Rethinking Regulation Of Advertising Aimed At Children, William A. Ramsey
Rethinking Regulation Of Advertising Aimed At Children, William A. Ramsey
Federal Communications Law Journal
In 1990, Congress passed the Children's Television Act ("CTA"), which directed the FCC to establish standards for broadcasters regarding the amount of children's programming aired and to enforce limits on the amount of commercial time aired during children's programming. The limits are meant to protect children from various harms caused by advertising aimed at children. This Note examines the constitutionality and the effectiveness of these commercial limits. The Note concludes that while the CTA's commercial limits are probably constitutional under the Court's test for regulations of commercial speech, the limits do not provide children with adequate protection from the harms …
Why Stovepipe Regulation No Longer Works: An Essay On The Need For A New Market-Oriented Communications Policy, Randolph J. May
Why Stovepipe Regulation No Longer Works: An Essay On The Need For A New Market-Oriented Communications Policy, Randolph J. May
Federal Communications Law Journal
In the ten years since the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the telecommunications industry has undergone profound technological and marketplace changes. May argues that the "techno-functional constructs" of the statute regulate services based on increasingly obsolete definitions. This Article argues that those changes have undermined the "stovepipe" regulatory scheme of the 1996 Act. In an increasingly diverse and competitive marketplace, the "stovepipe" model of regulation should be left in the dustbin of history. Instead, May argues that a new market-oriented regulatory regime focusing on consumer welfare through the application of antitrust principles should form the basis of a new regulatory model.
A Model For Emergency Service Of Voip Certification And Labeling, Tom Lookabaugh, Patrick S. Ryan, Douglas C. Sicker
A Model For Emergency Service Of Voip Certification And Labeling, Tom Lookabaugh, Patrick S. Ryan, Douglas C. Sicker
Federal Communications Law Journal
The diffusion of VoIP technology promises revolutionary changes to a century old model of voice telephony. Though these changes bring extraordinary opportunities, they also bring challenging policy implications for businesses and regulators. In this Article, the Authors examine the technical difficulties of providing the same quality and dependability of emergency services in VoIP based telephony as consumers have come to expect from PSTN-based telephone networks. Given the technical complexity and heterogeneity of VolP, the Authors propose industry self-regulation through an advanced certification framework as a more effective alternative to direct government regulation. After surveying a number of successful self-regulatory regimes, …
Communications Policy For 2006 And Beyond, Reed H. Hundt, Gregory L. Rosston
Communications Policy For 2006 And Beyond, Reed H. Hundt, Gregory L. Rosston
Federal Communications Law Journal
In this Article, the Authors propose sweeping changes to the current telecommunications regulatory regime. With impending reform in telecommunications laws, the Authors argue that an important first step is the creation of a bipartisan, independent commission to examine and recommend implementation of more market-oriented communications policy. Through maximizing the operation of the markets, the authors argue that communications policy will better serve its goals of increasing business productivity and consumer welfare through the better services and lower prices. Important steps to achieve optimal market operation include deregulating retail prices where multifirm competition is available, minimizing the cost of public property …
Out Of Thin Air: Using First Amendment Public Forum Analysis To Redeem American Broadcasting Regulation, Anthony E. Varona
Out Of Thin Air: Using First Amendment Public Forum Analysis To Redeem American Broadcasting Regulation, Anthony E. Varona
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
American television and radio broadcasters are uniquely privileged among Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensees. Exalted as public trustees by the 1934 Communications Act, broadcasters pay virtually nothing for the use of their channels of public radiofrequency spectrum, unlike many other FCC licensees who have paid billions of dollars for similar digital spectrum. Congress envisioned a social contract of sorts between broadcast licensees and the communities they served. In exchange for their free licenses, broadcast stations were charged with providing a platform for a "free marketplace of ideas" that would cultivate a democratically engaged and enlightened citizenry through the broadcasting of …
When Do Interest Groups Use Electronic Rulemaking?, John M. De Figueiredo
When Do Interest Groups Use Electronic Rulemaking?, John M. De Figueiredo
Faculty Scholarship
This paper analyzes how electronic rulemaking is affecting the propensity of interest groups to file comments and replies at the Federal Communications Commission. The paper shows that exogenous events and a handful of issues drive filing behavior. Implications of the analysis are discussed.