Communications Law Commons^™

Say Cheese: The Constitutionality Of State-Mandated Airtime On Public Broadcasting Stations In Wisconsin, Andrew D. Cotlar

Federal Communications Law Journal

Last year, the State of Wisconsin passed legislation which would require statechartered public broadcasting television networks to carry political advertising for candidates free of charge. In this article, Andrew Cotlar raises many concerns about the wisdom of such legislation and the impact this trend may have on public broadcasters throughout the nation. The author begins by analyzing the current position of the law on political access requirements, at both federal and state levels, and then argues that the public television stations should continue to be free to exercise substantial editorial discretion. The Article proceeds to critique the Wisconsin statute as …

Telric Vs. Universal Service: A Takings Violation?, Stuart Buck

Federal Communications Law Journal

While the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has had a profound positive impact on many sectors of the communications industry in the United States, local phone companies have recently faced a serious dilemma under a provision of the Act known as TELRIC. In this article, Stuart Buck presents a current analysis of the position of the telephone company and its struggle to meet costs under the TELRIC structure. The author argues that by forcing regional phone operators to grant wholesale pricing to competitors under TELRIC, while simultaneously maintaining Universal Service requirements of reduced-rate phone access to remote customers, the local phone …

Comparative Analysis Of Telecommunications Regulations: Pitfalls And Opportunities, Mary Newcomer Williams

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Controlling Market Power in Telecommunications: Antitrust vs. Sector-specific Regulation by Damien Geradin and Michel Kerf.

In this 2003 publication, the authors comprehensively review and analyze the telecommunications regulatory structure of five nations that have achieved some success in promoting competition in telecommunications markets. The authors engage in this analysis in order to evaluate the use of telecommunications sector-specific regulation versus more general, economywide antitrust regulation to accomplish specific goals related to promoting competition and efficiency in the provision of telecommunications services. This review describes the authors’ analysis and highlights its strengths and limitations. It also offers a few …

Is Federal Preemption Efficient In Cellular Phone Regulation, Thomas W. Hazlett

Federal Communications Law Journal

While many recent state-level efforts to regulate various aspects of the cellular phone industry have been abandoned in favor of federal regulations, other attempts by state regulators still exist. For this reason, Thomas Hazlett proposes that federal regulation is generally more appropriate than state-level action, due to the nature of the cellular industry. After a brief history of the industry, the author analyzes the pros and cons associated with state and federal regulation. The Article then proceeds to address the efficiencies created by national networks and proposes that the fragmentation of controlling regulatory power would reduce these efficiencies. Following a …

A Round "Peg" For A Round Hole: Advocating For The Town Of Oyster Bay's Public Access Channel Restrictions, Thomas Werner

Federal Communications Law Journal

New technological devices which allow consumers to skip commercials are driving corporations to engage in alternative advertising. The development of more “organic” methods of integrating products into the content of television programs makes those advertisements much more difficult to detect. As it becomes more difficult to divorce the product being sold from the content of the program, it also becomes more difficult to determine whether or not an advertisement actually exists. Without such blatant references, these programs would be likely candidates to appear on public access channels. This poses a severe threat to the service that those channels were intended …

Coming Of Age In Minnesota, Jane E. Kirtley

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Promoting The Public Interest In The Digital Era, Henry Geller

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Electronic Oases Take Root In Mr. Minow's Vast Wasteland, Edward J. Markey

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Public Television Law Réduit, Herbert A. Terry

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: The Public Television Legal Survival Guide, 2d ed., Association of Public Television Stations, 2001, 254 pages.

A review of The Public Television Legal Survival Guide, 2nd ed., Association of Public Television Stations, 2001. According to its preface, the book is intended for "station personnel who do not have legal training" but who need to know some of the basics for their daily work and, through footnotes, to assist "in-house station counsel and outside legal consultants." For the most part, this book fulfills that promise. Privately published by the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) in Washington, D.C. and …

Avoiding Slim Reasoning And Shady Results: A Proposal For Indecency And Obscenity Regulation In Radio And Broadcast Television, Jacob T. Rigney

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Note explores the relevant law regarding the issue of indecency and obscenity in broadcast, with particular focus on a 2001 Policy Statement released by the FCC. The Author examines the major problems with the regulatory scheme as it now exists, and offers an alternative. The Author concludes by arguing that leaving the subjective decisions regarding indecency to market forces, leaving parents to determine what should or should not be indecent, and leaving the FCC free to pursue obscenity with greater zeal is the most appropriate course of action for the future.

From Diversity To Duplication: Mega-Mergers And The Failure Of The Marketplace Model Under The Telecommunications Act Of 1996, Anastasia Bednarski

Federal Communications Law Journal

"Mega-owners" in the radio regime became possible with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which radically deregulated national and local radio station ownership limits that had been in existence for almost sixty years. The Act reflected Congress's firm belief that a deregulated marketplace would best serve the public interest. This Note argues that the 1996 Act is an example of excessive adherence to the marketplace model, particularly for regulating the radio industry. The Author argues that although a less extreme marketplace model has guided the FCC's regulation of radio since the early 1980s, the current incarnation of the marketplace model is …