Law Commons^™

Forty Years Of Wandering In The Wasteland, Nicholas Johnson

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Promoting The Public Interest In The Digital Era, Henry Geller

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Tv: A Vast Oasis Of Public Interest Programming, Edward O. Fritts

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.

Manhattan, Cass R. Sunstein

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Measuring Quality Television, Russ Taylor

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The “Vast Wasteland” In Retrospect, Joel Rosenbloom

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Legacy Of The Federal Communications Commission’S Computer Inquiries, Robert Cannon

Federal Communications Law Journal

The FCC and the computer industry have learned much in the 35 years since the agency first began to regulate computer networks. Safeguards were imposed on common carriers for the benefit of the networks. This Article examines the so-called Computer Inquiries and how they have repeatedly re-examined and redefined the nature of the regulatory treatment of computer networks over communications networks. The Author reviews Computer I, in which the FCC first attempted to divide the world technologically between computers that ran communications networks ("pure communications") and computers at the end of telephone lines with which people interacted ("pure data processing"). …

What’S In A Name?, Jonathan Zittrain

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Ruling the Root, Milton L. Mueller, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002, 301 pages.

A review of Milton L. Mueller's Ruling the Root, The MIT Press, 2002. In the spring of 1998, the U.S. government told the Internet: Govern yourself. This unfocused order-a blandishment, really, expressed as an awkward "statement of policy" by the Department of Commerce, carrying no direct force of law-came about because the management of obscure but critical centralized Internet functions was at a political crossroads. In Ruling the Root, Mueller thoroughly documents the colorful history both before and after this moment of inflection, and gives …

Filth, Filtering, And The First Amendment: Ruminations On Public Libraries’ Use Of Internet Filtering Software, Bernard W. Bell

Federal Communications Law Journal

Traditionally, whenever the government has sought to regulate speech, analysis of its action focused on conventional issues, such as the type of forum involved, whether the government acted in a regulatory or a proprietary role, and whether the regulation could be defined as a prior restraint. With the advent of the Internet and the opportunity for the widespread dissemination of viewpoints, however, new issues have arisen. This Article focuses on the complex questions public libraries face when filtering material, usually of a sexually explicit nature, from the public using filtering software. This Article contends that public libraries require a unique …

From Consumers To Users: Shifting The Deeper Structures Of Regulation Toward Sustainable Commons And User Access, Yochai Benkler

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Online Auction Fraud: Are The Auction Houses Doing All They Should Or Could To Stop Online Fraud?, James M. Snyder

Federal Communications Law Journal

In April 1998, the FTC released a consumer alert pertaining to the increasing problem of online auction fraud. As the number of online auction participants increased, online auction fraud was becoming more prevalent. The FTC requested comments regarding methods that would be appropriate for curbing the increase in consumer deception. Many in the online auction industry proposed voluntary self-regulation. This Note exposes the inadequacy of industry self-regulation by analogizing online auction abuse with the misuse and near downfall of the 900-number industry. This Note proposes that only a regime of strict industry guidelines that the FTC initiates will halt online …

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.

The First Amendment Case Against Fcc Ip Telephony Regulation, Tuan N. Samahon

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Comment argues that IP telephony, like handbills and traditional print media, deserves First Amendment protection against FCC regulatory authority. After briefly reviewing the IP telephony phenomenon within the larger context of "digital convergence," the Comment examines the FCC and Supreme Court’s technologically driven First Amendment jurisprudence—particularly, the First Amendment’s conspicuous absence from the IP telephony dialogue, and, correspondingly, the prominence of assurances of regulatory forbearance in Congress, the courts, and the FCC. In response, the Author offers First Amendment content-based and content-neutral arguments against the proposed telephony regulations. At the very least, the affordability and innovation IP telephony offers …

To Net Or Not To Net: Singapore’S Regulation Of The Internet, Sarah B. Hogan

Federal Communications Law Journal

Internet access has become almost commonplace, as has the unfettered exchange of ideas through cyberspace. Several nations, Singapore among them, have attempted to control their citizens’ Internet access in order to preserve and protect a desired national culture. A brief overview of the technological means of Internet censorship reveals a hidden truth: If Singapore truly wishes to become the technological giant of the East, the government will have to sacrifice its desire to control Internet content.

Creating Better Incentives Through Regulation: Section 271 Of The Communications Act Of 1934 And The Promotion Of Local Exchange Competition, Tim Sloan

Federal Communications Law Journal

The overriding goal of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is to promote competition in all telecommunications markets. Section 271 of the Act addresses competition in the local telecommunications market. This section provides that, with appropriate competition in the local exchange market, Bell Operating Companies shall be allowed to offer in-region, interLATA services. Although Bell Operating Companies have applied to offer such services, the FCC has yet to grant a section 271 application. Through these denials, the Commission has begun to construe the frequently ambiguous text included in Track A and Track B of section 271. A further understanding of the …

The Information Superhighway: Trolls At The Tollgate, Charles M. Oliver

Federal Communications Law Journal

Prior to the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, policymakers sought funding and regulatory mechanisms capable of fulfilling the vision of an Information Superhighway. Vice President Gore, the Clinton Administration's point person on the issue, initially proposed assessing fees on other sectors of the telecommunications industry to fund construction. Meanwhile, conservatives asserted that deregulation of the industry would achieve the desired result. A compromise ultimately was reached: the 1996 Act requires local exchange carriers to unbundle their networks and provide access at a reasonable cost to competitors. The use of regulatory formulas in lieu of taxes to subsidize a national …

International Jurisdiction In Cyberspace: Which States May Regulate The Internet?, Stephan Wilske, Teresa Schiller

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Internet now reaches 60 million users in 160 countries, with the number increasing each year. Although cyberspace has been viewed as a self-regulating entity controlled by no government, this myth is being destroyed as the global Internet community expands. With this expansion comes a question: Who has the authority to regulate cyberspace? Given that decisions about the Internet reach far beyond national borders, the answer to this question is unknown, but certainly has broad implications. Traditional laws of international jurisdiction, including jurisdiction to prescribe, jurisdiction to adjudicate, and jurisdiction to enforce, offer some clear answers. However, further development of …

Regulating Electronic Money In Small-Value Payment Systems: Telecommunications Law As A Regulatory Model, Randall W. Sifers

Federal Communications Law Journal

A smart card, or stored value card, is a credit card-sized payment mechanism with an embedded integrated circuit chip. Current technology allows value to be placed on the card through an ATM terminal, a telephone equipped with a card reader, or a personal computer equipped with a card reader. The suitability of the card for small-value, high-volume transactions indicates that stored value cards could, to a large extent, replace currency transactions. Existing laws are not tailored to deal with the nature of transactions involving stored value cards, nor do they address nonbank card issuers. The integration of telecommunications and financial …

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Regulating Competition In The Interexchange Telecommunications Market: The Dominant/Nondominant Carrier Approach And The Evolution Of Forbearance, Scott M. Schoenwald

Federal Communications Law Journal

Although significant competition began to develop in the interexchange market during the mid-twentieth century, the Federal Communications Commission did not undertake a meaningful effort to regulate competitive forces until it commenced its Competitive Carrier rulemaking in 1979. This proceeding, which adopted a market power approach to rate, tariff, and facilities regulation in order to enhance competition, service diversity, and consumer welfare, constituted a fundamental change in the Commission's monopoly-based regulatory approach to telecommunications. The author examines the market power approach to the regulation of competition in the interexchange telecommunications market recently adopted by the FCC, with an emphasis on the …

Reconsidering Retransmission Consent: An Examination Of The Retransmission Consent Provision (47 U.S.C. § 325(B)) Of The 1992 Cable Act, Charles Lubinsky

Federal Communications Law Journal

This article examines the legislative and economic history of the retransmission consent provision in the 1992 Cable Act. Retransmission consent provisions in the 1992 Cable Act allow broadcasters to enter into negotiations with cable operators regarding retransmission of their broadcast signal. The 1992 Cable Act requires broadcasters to choose between retransmission consent and must-carry provisions every three years. The first election period ended in October 1996 and a new election period begins January 1, 1997. Retransmission consent has had a noticeable effect on the evolution of cable television broadcasting, although it is arguably unclear whether retransmission consent has addressed the …

Welcoming Remarks And Statement Of The Issues, Fred H. Cate

Federal Communications Law Journal

The creation, manipulation, transmission, storage, and use of information constitute the United States' and the world's largest economic sector, affecting almost every aspect of business, education, government, and entertainment. The convener of From Conduit to Content: The Emergence of Information Policy and Law introduces The Annenberg Washington Program forum by noting the proliferation of information technologies and services, the diversity of industries and interests affected, and the number of government entities with jurisdiction, that contribute to both the complexity and the importance of information policy making.

From Conduit to Content: The Emergence of Information Policy and Law. The Annenberg Washington …

In Search Of The Multimedia Grail, Daniel L. Brenner

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Trends In Communications And Other Musings On Our Future, Rachelle B. Chong

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Toward Regulation That Fosters Competition, Reed Hundt

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Steps Toward A Global Information Infrastructure, Larry Irving, Janet Hernandez, Wendy C. Chow

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Law Antecedent And Paramount, Fred H. Cate

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Jefferson On The Internet, Nicholas Johnson

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Fcc Plus Sixty, Larry King

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.