Digital Commons Network^™

Guideline Institutionalization: The Role Of Merger Guidelines In Antitrust Discourse, Hillary Greene

William & Mary Law Review

With the growth of the administrative state, agency-promulgated enforcement policy statements, typically referred to as guidelines, have become ubiquitous in the U.S. federal system. Yet, the actual usage and impact of such guidelines is poorly understood. Often the issuing agencies declare the guidelines to be nonbinding, even for themselves. Notwithstanding this disclaimer, the government, private parties, and even the courts frequently rely on the guidelines in a precedent-like manner. In this Article, Professor Greene examines the evolution of one system of enforcement policy guidelines-the U.S. federal antitrust merger guidelines--and finds that these guidelines have acted as a stealth force on …

You Said What? The Perils Of Content-Based Regulation Of Public Broadcast Underwriting Acknowledgments, Andrew D. Cotlar

Federal Communications Law Journal

Public broadcast stations in the United States are forbidden to air promotional announcements in exchange for payment from commercial entities. However, these stations must acknowledge any financial contribution from donors that support particular programs without promoting the goods and services offered by those donors. While the FCC has attempted to maintain the conceptual distinction between promotional and nonpromotional information, it has struggled to apply this distinction within the context of an evolution in advertising practice.

As a result, many noncommercial educational licensees find it difficult to apply the FCC's rules. A careful analysis of how the FCC underwriting determinations yields …

Municipal Broadband: Challenges And Perspectives, Craig Dingwall

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article reviews the status and challenges of municipal broadband and provides recommendations for responsible municipal broadband deployment. The Author reviews broadband demand; possible justifications for and the status of municipal broadband deployment; speed, feature, and price considerations; regulatory and technical issues; and relevant laws and legislation. The Author offers specific national policy recommendations and concludes that government/industry partnerships offer perhaps the best solution for municipal broadband deployment where broadband needs aren't met.

Analyzing The World Bank's Blueprint For Promoting "Information And Communications", Sherille Ismail

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Information and Communications for Development 2006: Global Trends and Policies, issued by the World Bank.

This Review provides a summary and brief analysis of foreign private investment, the book's blueprint for reform, and how investments have fared in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty. The book is a valuable asset for governments, scholars, investors, and the international community seeking to serve end users in developing countries.

Broadcast Technology As Diversity Opportunity: Exchanging Market Power For Multiplexed Signal Set- Asides, Michael M. Epstein

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article proposes an access system based on a theory of quid pro quo: a bargained.for-exchange in which broadcasters would trade media access for market power. Under this quid pro quo approach, the FCC would administer a scaled metric whereby the greater a media company's audience reach, the more access that company must provide to citizens with diverse and local content. Since digital technology permits broadcasters to "multiplex" their television signal bandwidth into multiple signal programming streams, an opportunity exists for the government to require public access to one or more of these programming streams in return for relaxing caps …

The Legal Status Of Spyware, Daniel B. Garrie, Alan F. Blakley, Mathew J. Armstrong

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article examines the legal status of Spyware under federal and common law in the United States of America. The Authors begin with a technical overview of Spyware technology, which covers Spyware's functionality, methods of dispersion, and classification. The Authors then analyze the treatment of Spyware under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Wiretap Act, and under general tort claims of trespass to chattels, invasion of privacy, and intrusion upon seclusion. The Authors conclude that none of the aformentioned causes of action provide an adequate remedy at law for Spyware victims. Moreover, the Authors note …

Opening Bottlenecks: On Behalf Of Mandated Network Neutrality, Bill D. Herman

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article calls for mandated "network neutrality," which would require broadband service providers to treat all nondestructive data equitably. The Author argues that neutral networks are preferable because they better foster online innovation and provide a more equitable distribution of the power to communicate. Without mandated network neutrality, providers in highly concentrated regional broadband markets will likely begin charging content providers for the right to send data to end users at the fastest speeds available. The Author demonstrates that regional broadband competition and forthcoming transmission technologies are unlikely to prevent broadband discrimination, ad hoc regulation under current statutory authority is …

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 Procompetitive Interest In Intellectual Property Law, Thomas F. Cotter

William & Mary Law Review

When government recognizes intellectual property (IP) rights, it is often viewed as sanctioning the existence of private "monopolies," in contrast to the general antimonopoly thrust of the antitrust laws. And yet, on occasion IP law itself condemns conduct on the part of IP owners-or excuses otherwise infringing activity on the part of IP defendants-expressly for the purpose of promoting competition. It does so even though antitrust law -if one were to apply it at all under analogous circumstances-would not find anticompetitive harm without conducting a more thorough analysis of whether the antitrust defendant possesses power over a well-defined market. Salient …

There's No "I" In "League": Professional Sports Leagues And The Single Entity Defense, Nathaniel Grow

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that outside of labor disputes, sports leagues should be presumed to be single entities. Part I argues that professional sports leagues are single entities in disputes regarding league-wide, non-labor policy. In particular, the focus of the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on economic reality rather than organizational form necessitates a finding that professional sports leagues are single entities in non-labor disputes. Part II argues that professional sports leagues are not single entities for purposes of labor disputes; sports leagues, on the whole, do not involve a unity of interest for labor matters. More importantly, existing precedent outside of the …

Holmes And The Bald Man: Why Rule Of Reason Should Be The Standard In Sherman Act Section 2 Cases, William J. Michael

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "It has been argued that the antitrust laws’ legislative history supports the notion that the laws were meant to prohibit anticompetitive price cuts – regardless of whether they are below cost. Thus, predatory pricing claims used to turn simply on whether the allegedly predatory price was intended to harm rivals. In fact, liability for predatory price discrimination was found without requiring probable or actual monopolization. Yet some cases brought early under Section 2 suggest that below cost pricing was indicative of, if not proof of, the type of conduct Section 2 prohibits. The results under this old scheme were …

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

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Law Of Unintended Consequences, Susan Ness

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

No Sight Like Hindsight: The 1996 Act And The View Ten Years Later, Donna N. Lampert

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Looking Backwards And Looking Forwards In Contemplating The Next Rewrite Of The Communications Act, Johannes M. Bauer, Steven S. Wildman

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Swallows, Sausages, And The 1996 Act, Daniel B. Phythyon

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Deregulation And Market Concentration: An Analysis Of Post- 1996 Consolidations, Eli M. Noam

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Failure Of Competition Under The 1996 Telecommunications Act, Gene Kimmelman, Mark Cooper, Magda Herra

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rivalrous Telecommunications Networks With And Without Mandatory Sharing, Thomas W. Hazlett

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act, Jim Robbins

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Greatest Story Never Told: How The 1996 Telecommunications Act Helped To Transform Cable's Future, Brian L. Roberts

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Public Interest Perspective On The Impact Of The Broadcasting Provisions Of The 1996 Act, Angela J. Campbell

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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.

Section 202(H) Of The Telecommunications Act Of 1996: Beware Of Intended Consequences, Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Harold Feld, Parul Desai

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Transformation: The 1996 Act Reshapes Radio, Christopher H. Sterling

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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

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 …

'Wi-Fi'ght Them When You Can Join Them? How The Philadelphia Compromise May Have Saved Municipally-Owned Telecommunications Services, Adam Christensen

Federal Communications Law Journal

When the Mayor of Philadelphia announced his plan to provide municipally sponsored Wi-Fi Internet access, Verizon, the incumbent telecommunications service provider organized lobbyists to block the plan. The compromise eventually struck between Pennsylvania municipalities and Verizon, which allows municipalities to offer telecommunications services after giving Verizon a right of first refusal has resulted in a certain degree of uncertainty in the future of municipally sponsored Internet access. This Note examines this compromise and argues that it represents an optimistic future for municipally sponsored telecommunications services. The Note first discusses the history of Wi-Fi technology and the development of the law …

The Rebirth Of The Nba - Well, Almost: An Analysis Of The Maurice Clarett Decision And Its Impact On The National Basketball Association, Kevin J. Cimino

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.