Law Commons^™

Securing The Freedom Of The Communications Revolution, Michael K. Powell

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Digital Crossroads, Kathleen Wallman

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Digital Crossroads: American Telecommunications Policy in the Internet Age, Jonathan E. Nuechterlein & Philip J. Weiser, Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 2005, 670 pages.

A review of Digital Crossroads: American Telecommunications Policy in the Internet Age, by Jonathan E. Nuechterlein and Philip J. Weiser, MIT Press, 2005. Most practitioners of communications law are familiar with the necessity of teaching themselves enough economics, engineering, and politics to practice competently and comfortably in an area that is inherently interdisciplinary. Likewise, many professors who teach telecommunications from a variety of disciplinary perspectives are familiar with the frustration of locating a text that …

New Objectives For Cfius: Foreign Ownership, Critical Infrastructure, And Communications Interception, James A. Lewis

Federal Communications Law Journal

Global economic integration creates new risks for national security. Foreign ownership of telecommunications service providers is an area of expanding concern. Foreign ownership could multiply opportunities for espionage by increasing foreign entities' access to U.S. communications and networks as well as increasing the complexity of defenders' tasks. Foreign ownership could make law enforcement communications interception more difficult. Foreign ownership could also increase the ability of a potential opponent to disrupt critical infrastructure and the services the foreign-controlled entities provide. These concerns create interest in improving existing processes for managing the risks associated with foreign ownership--such responsibility principally lies with the …

Looking Beyond The Digital Divide, Yolanda D. Edwards

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Digital Nation: Toward an Inclusive Information Society, Anthony G. Wilhelm, Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 2004, 184 pages.

A review of Anthony G. Wilhelm's Digital Nation: Toward an Inclusive Information Society, MIT Press, 2004. An important attempt to frame the debate about the importance of technological literacy, this book explores world-wide successes and failures to bring technology to the masses and provides a plan to accomplish it in the United States.

State Regulatory Approaches To Voip: Policy, Implementation, And Outcome, Robert Cannon

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article explores the many perspectives on Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP"). The notion of the Article is not to resolve the definitive approach to VolP. Rather, this Article suggests that the process of the approach has itself become muddled. Individuals quibble, contrasting the superiority of one perspective over another, negating the reason why they were looking in the first place. This Article is the second part of a project to survey and analyze state VoIP policy. The first part of the project surveyed state VolP regulatory activity. This part seeks to place that precedent in a centrifuge, segregating out …

Homeland Security And Wireless Telecommunications: The Continuing Evolution Of Regulation, Christopher Guttman-Mccabe, Amy Mushahwar, Patrick Murck

Federal Communications Law Journal

Since the grant of the first Commercial Mobile Radio Service ("CMRS") license over twenty years ago, the wireless industry has grown from a service of convenience to one that is indispensable. What once was a device used for sporadic phone calls now is viewed by many Americans as a source of invaluable communication and security. As the wireless industry matured, government officials turned to the mobile phone as a way to make the United States safer. E-9 11, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act ("CALEA"), Wireless Priority Service ("WPS"), and Outage Reporting all were initiated on the wireless platform …

Virginia Cellular And Highland Cellular: The Fcc Establishes A Framework For Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Designation In Rural Study Areas, Mark C. Bannister

Federal Communications Law Journal

In 1996, Congress passed the first substantial rework of the Communications Act of 1934. This Act was intended to benefit consumers by encouraging competition and establishing a series of explicit mechanisms for assuring universal service. One of the outcomes is the creation of significant controversy over the federal, and in some cases, state universal service subsidy for the class of telecommunications providers typically known as wireless or cellular and defined by federal statute as "commercial mobile radio service" ("CMRS"). Incumbent local exchange carriers ("ILECs") characterize these subsidies as a windfall and as unnecessary to provide wireless phone service. They argue …

Navigating Communications Regulation In The Wake Of 9/11, Jamie S. Gorelick, John H. Harwood Ii, Heather Zachary

Federal Communications Law Journal

In no industry has the impact of the events of September 11, 2001 ("9/11") been felt more strongly than in the communications industry. After 9/11, as the American people demanded a greater sense of security, Congress and the executive branch agencies reacted with new laws, new regulations, and new practices designed to protect our nation's critical communications infrastructure and enhance the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to investigate those who would do us harm. The U.S. communications providers could do so consistent with their responsibilities to customers and to shareholders. That partnership, based upon rules developed over decades, …

Discriminatory Filtering: Cipa's Effect On Our Nation's Youth And Why The Supreme Court Erred In Upholding The Constitutionality Of The Children's Internet Protection Act, Katherine A. Miltner

Federal Communications Law Journal

Congress introduced the Children's Internet Protection Act ("CIPA") in order to filter obscene and indecent material in response to a perceived threat to members of the public, specifically minors, who are exposed to pornographic material on the Internet. The provisions of CIPA have provoked tension between two competing interests: protecting minors from cyberpornography, and safeguarding First Amendment rights. This Note argues that the Supreme Court erred by upholding the constitutionality of CIPA. As a result of the Supreme Court's decision, the nation's youth will have restricted access to constitutionally protected information. The Court improperly relied on a provision of the …

Communications Policy For The Next Four Years, Conrad Burns

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Universal Service: Problems, Solutions, And Responsive Policies, Allen S. Hammond Iv

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Convergence And Competition-At Last, Antoinette Cook Bush, John Beahn, Mick Tuesley

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Broadcast Flag: It's Not Just Tv, Wendy Seltzer

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The 2005 Communications Act Of Unintended Consequences, Daniel Brenner

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Four More Years... Of The Status Quo? How Simple Principles Can Lead Us Out Of The Regulatory Wilderness, Adam Thierer

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

My Beef With Big Media: How Government Protects Big Media-And Shuts Out Upstarts Like Me., Ted Turner

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In Program Content Regulation, Richard E. Wiley, Lawrence W. Secrest

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Time For Change On Media Cross-Ownership Regulation, John F. Sturm

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Contrasting Policies Of The Fcc And Ferc Regarding The Importance Of Open Transmission Networks In Downstream Competitive Markets, Harvey Reiter

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") and the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") have undergone a remarkable role reversal. After years of resistance to the very notion of competition in the electric and gas industries, FERC has, with considerable vigor and consistency spanning nearly two decades, promoted policies to open access both to gas pipeline and high voltage electric transmission networks to downstream competitors of the network owners. FERC has stated plainly and repeatedly that the underpinning of these policies is that open access is essential to the protection of competition in the sale of the largely deregulated services reliant upon …

Broadcast Flags And The War Against Digital Television Piracy: A Solution Or Dilemma For The Digital Era?, Debra Kaplan

Federal Communications Law Journal

With the advent of digital TV, many homes in the U.S. are now on the cutting edge of what is likely to be a sea change in how this country watches TV. While these homes can now begin to enjoy the numerous benefits of the technology, regulators and industry experts are working to craft responses to problems, both actual and anticipated, that the technology creates. Mindful of the piracy issues that came with the popularity of digital file formats in the music industry, the FCC addressed piracy in the digital TV context by endorsing the use of "broadcast flags" on …