Law Commons^™

Financing Telecommunications Projects In Asia: A Promising Regulatory Perspective, Rachelle B. Chong, Wendy Chow

Federal Communications Law Journal

Asia's telecommunications market has long been viewed as lucrative and fast growing. As the benefits of a competitive telecommunications market become apparent, many Asian governments recognize that global corporations require, and in fact demand, state-of-the-art telecommunications infrastructure. After several years of strong growth, however, the severe economic crisis that affected all industry segments in Asia caused investors to pause and reevaluate the risks involved in financing infrastructure projects. Despite the recent Asian economic crisis, the overall picture for Asian telecommunications infrastructure projects remains promising. Asian governments continue to liberalize their regulatory schemes, thus reducing regulatory and political risks to investors. …

The Battle For Portland, Maine, L. Andrew Tollin

Federal Communications Law Journal

In 1985, when the FCC began the competitive process of deciding who would be licensed to provide cellular telephone service to Portland, Maine, chaos and irony reigned. Thirteen years later, after a bitter legal battle among local telephone companies, a provider was finally selected. At one point or another, all three branches of government became involved. The license itself changed hands three times during the case and, in essence, three different telephone systems were constructed. Ultimately, the case was decided on the basis of whether the FCC complied with a preexisting federal law, the Paperwork Reduction Act, in adopting the …

Cable Internet Unbundling: Local Leadership In The Deployment High Speed Access, Marcus Maher

Federal Communications Law Journal

With the pending merger of TCI and AT&T and their promise of "one-stop" television, Internet, and telephone service, the cable Internet issues move to the forefront. The desire of traditional Internet Service Providers to gain access to new high-speed technologies for Internet access led to requests for unbundling or open access to cable systems. Despite the heated debate on the need for unbundling that has occurred at the federal level, local authorities have taken the lead in requiring open access to cable for competing ISPs. General anticompetitive concerns with cable Internet dominated by the cable company could be alleviated in …

The Real Rule Of Reason: Bridging The Disconnect, Michael A. Carrier

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Use Of The Antitrust State Action Doctrine In The Deregulated Electric Utility Industry , Jeffery D. Schwarz

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Questioning Traditional Antitrust Presumptions: Price And Non-Price Competition In Hospital Markets, Peter J. Hammer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Hospital mergers challenge basic assumptions about the effects of market power in the health care industry. Antitrust courts have struggled with claims that hospital mergers may in fact reduce costs and lower prices. This Article assesses the validity of these economic claims in the context of an industry that has undergone radical transformations in recent years. The Article also explores how such arguments should be treated as a matter of antitrust doctrine in an area of the law that relies heavily on market share presumptions and rule-based decision making. The Article contends that courts should employ a total welfare standard …

Antitrust, Michael Eric Ross, Jeffrey S. Cashdan

Mercer Law Review

In 1998 the Eleventh Circuit published eight antitrust opinions. Some of these cases turned on procedural issues; some were decided on the merits. As in previous years, defendants generally were successful, but not always. Each of these decisions is briefly summarized below.

Southern Card & Novelty, Inc. v. Lawson Mardon Label, Inc. concerned the legality of a "full-line forcing" arrangement. Defendant, Lawson Mardon Label, Inc. ("Lawson"), manufactured postcards, which it sold to distributors throughout North America for resale to retail outlets, which in turn sold them to consumers. Lawson manufactured "local view" postcards depicting nonlicensed local images (for example, …

Copyright, Licensing, And The First Screen , Ronald A. Cass

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

As patent, copyright, and other intellectual property rights have assumed greater economic importance, the manner in which those rights are used has come under increased scrutiny. Recently filed antitrust litigation against Microsoft Corporation, for example, focuses on the terms under which Microsoft has licensed its Windows® operating system to computer manufacturers (generally referenced as OEMs, for Original Equipment Manufacturers). In particular, parties to the litigation complain about the license agreements' requirement that the first screen to appear when customers initially turn on ("boot up") a computer display certain features common across all Windows-based platforms. The "first screen provision" has been …

Antitrust Enfocement And High-Technology Markets, William J. Baer, David A. Balto

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Although the antitrust laws apply to all industries, the application must be tempered in each case by the myriad ways in which competition can be modified by structural, behavioral, technological, regulatory, and other characteristics. The Commission applies the antitrust laws with sensitivity to the special characteristics of high-tech industries and of intellectual property, but also with the recognition that--as in other industries--competition plays an important role in spurring innovation and in spreading the benefits of that innovation to consumers. This focus is not new. This balanced approach has roots that go back at least to the 1977 Antitrust Guide to …

Self-Regulation And The Media, Angela J. Campbell

Federal Communications Law Journal

Self-regulation has been portrayed as superior to government regulation for addressing problems of new media such as digital television and the Internet. This Article reviews the literature on self-regulation to define what is meant by the term, to identify the purported advantages and disadvantages of self-regulation, and to identify the conditions needed for its success. It then analyzes the effectiveness of self-regulation by examining instances where self-regulation has been employed in connection with media. After describing and analyzing past uses of self-regulation in broadcasting, children’s advertising, news, alcohol advertising, comic books, movies, and video games, this Article concludes that self-regulation …

Private Property, Economic Efficiency, And Spectrum Policy In The Wake Of The C Block Auction, Brian C. Fritts

Federal Communications Law Journal

In the original spectrum auctions of Personal Communications Services, the FCC designated a portion of the spectrum for woman and minority-owned small businesses (the C block). The Supreme Court’s decision in Adarand v. Pena caused the FCC to redesign the auction with the result that many bidders overvalued this spectrum. Due to this overvaluation, many bidders could not meet their obligations to the FCC. This Note analyzes FCC auction history, the FCC’s response to the original C block auction, how to fix these problems within the given congressional and FCC framework, and argues that the best solution would be to …

Not In My Backyard: The Siting Of Wireless Communications Facilities, Malcolm J. Tuesley

Federal Communications Law Journal

Given the increasing prominence of wireless communications within the broader realm of technological advancement, the deployment of a national infrastructure capable of meeting the demands of PCS is critical. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 takes substantial steps to ensure the expeditious deployment and ultimate success of such technology. The spur of the 1996 Act is necessary to bring otherwise disinterested communities to the table with providers. While the 1996 Act greatly enhances the position of service providers as they deal with local communities, education and cooperation between federal, state and local governments, and service providers offer the greatest potential for …

The Common Law In Cyberspace, Tom W. Bell

Michigan Law Review

Wrong in interesting ways, counts for high praise among academics. Peter Huber's stirring new book, Law and Disorder in Cyberspace, certainly merits acclaim by that standard. The very subtitle of the book, Abolish the FCC and Let Common Law Rule the Telecosm, announces the daring arguments to follow. A book so bold could hardly fail to make some stimulating errors, the most provocative of which this review discusses. Thanks to his willingness to challenge musty doctrines of telecommunications law and policy, moreover, Huber gets a great deal right. Law and Disorder in Cyberspace argues at length that the Federal Communications …

The Rise Of America's Two National Pastimes: Baseball And The Law, Cleta Deatherage Mitchell

Michigan Law Review

Mark McGwire's seventieth home run ball sold at auction in January of this year for $3,005,000. In late 1998, Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos sued a former Orioles manager and his daughter in the circuit court of Cook County, Illinois. Angelos alleged that the original lineup card from the 1995 game when Cal Ripken, Jr., broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record belongs to the Orioles, not to the former manager and certainly not to his daughter. There may be no crying in baseball, but there is money. And wherever earthly treasure gathers two or more, a legal system arises. From …

Federal Preemption Of State Universal Service Regulations Under The Telecommunications Act Of 1996, Mark P. Trinchero, Holly Rachel Smith

Federal Communications Law Journal

With the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress revamped federal universal service policy by requiring that universal service support be explicit. The Act also provides that states can supplement federal universal service support with state universal service support. However, under section 254(f) of the Act, state programs must not be "inconsistent with" the FCC’s rules for implementing the Federal Plan. Section 254(f) provides for express preemption of state universal service plans but uses FCC rules as a measure for determining when preemption is required. As a result, the case law governing express preemption by Congress is in and …

Cap-Sized: How The Promise Of The Price Cap Voyage To Competition Was Lost In A Sea Of Good Intentions, Gregory J. Vogt

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article explores the Federal Communication Commission’s efforts to regulate into being marketplace economic forces through price cap regulation. A comprehensive analysis of the history and policies behind price cap regulation of LECs offers guidance for the future. Ultimately, while progress towards local exchange competition has been made, certain important adjustments should be implemented to allow price caps to achieve their full potential. These changes, consistent with the original theory of price caps, will in turn help speed the transition to competition.

Whither To Regulate?, Patrick A. Miles Jr.

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Public Policy Toward Cable Television: The Economics of Rate Controls, by Thomas W. Hazlett and Matthew L. Spitzer, The MIT Press and The AEI Press, 1997, 253 pages.

From International Competitive Carrier To The Wto: A Survey Of The Fcc’S International Telecommunications Policy Initiatives 1985-1998, Lawrence J. Spiwak

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Competing On Quality Of Care: The Need To Develop A Competition Policy For Health Care Markets, William M. Sage, Peter J. Hammer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

As American health care moves from a professionally dominated to a market-dominated model, concerns have been voiced that competition, once unleashed, will focus on price to the detriment of quality. Although quality has been extensively analyzed in health services research, the role of quality in competition policy has not been elucidated. While economists may theorize about non-price competition, courts in antitrust cases often follow simpler models of competition based on price and output, either ignoring quality as a competitive dimension or assuming that it will occur in tandem with price competition. This unsystematic approach is inadequate for the formulation of …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Should A Possession Or Use Standard Be Employed To Prove Insider Trading?

San Diego Law Review

This Comment endorses the legislative adoption of an initial rebuttable presumption in favor of the complainant in insider trading cases. This presumption would create a strong inference of "actual use"

upon proof that the defendant was in possession of material and non- public information at the time he consummated a securities transaction.

Moreover, the inference would establish a prima facie case of insider trading sufficient to withstand summary judgment. This Comment argues that such a presumption is appropriate as it is consistent with the plain language of section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 19345

and SEC Rule lOb-5. …

Antitrust Law: A Long Time Coming--United States Supreme Court Adopts The "Rule Of Reason" Test For Vertical Maximum Price Fixing Cases In State Oil Co. V. Khan, Jarod Spencer Gonzalez

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Limiting Patentees' Market Power Without Reducing Innovation Incentives: The Perverse Benefits Of Uncertainty And Non-Injunctive Remedies, Ian Ayres, Paul Klemperer

Michigan Law Review

Uncertainty and delay in patent litigation may have unforeseen virtues. The combination of these oft-criticized characteristics might induce a limited amount of infringement that enhances social welfare without reducing (or without substantially reducing) the profitability of the patentee. Patent infringement is generally viewed as socially inefficient because infringement reduces the patentee's ex ante incentive to innovate. Limited amounts of infringement combined with increased patent duration, however, can substantially reduce the distortionary ex post effects of supracompetitive pricing without reducing the patentee's ex ante incentives to innovate. Indeed, this Article derives a legal regime that preserves the incentive to innovate by …

Java And Microsoft: How Does The Antitrust Story Unfold, Daniel J. Gifford

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Extraterritorial Application Of The Federal Antitrust Laws: Expanding Their Criminal Reach Under Nippon Paper, James A. Griffith

Maryland Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Antitrust And Trade Regulation, Michael F. Urbanski, James R. Creekmore

University of Richmond Law Review

During the past year, the United States Supreme Court, in two decisions of significance, refused to summarily censure conduct having legitimate, procompetitive benefits. In similar fashion, the United States Court ofAppeals for the Fourth Circuit continued to scrutinize antitrust claims, rejecting those failing to measure up to pleading and proof requirements, while also reaffirming the vitality of the state action immunity doctrine as a bar to those that did. Meanwhile, Virginia's federal district courts grappled with time worn conspiracy challenges to medical staff privileging decisions, while simultaneously forging new ground in one of the first cases to consider market definition …