Law Commons^™

Broadcasting Licenses: Ownership Rights And The Spectrum Rationalization Challenge, J. Armand Musey Cfa

J. Armand Musey, CFA

This Article examines the showdown between television broadcast- ers and the government in light of the FCC’s plan to reallocate cur- rently licensed broadcast spectrum to signifcantly higher value mobile broadband use. The government seeks to do so in an economically, socially and legally effcient manner, and has indicated that it seeks a reallocation process that is voluntary for broadcasters. Nonetheless, any spectrum reallocation proceeding raises the question of whether, and to what extent, television broadcasters ultimately possess rights to licensed spectrum, and what type of compensation, if any, they would be owed if the FCC takes their spectrum licenses …

How The Traditional Property Rights Model Informs The Broadcast Television Spectrum Rationalization Challenge, J. Armand Musey Cfa

J. Armand Musey, CFA

This paper examines the prospective role of zoning rights and eminent domain in the Federal Communication Commission’s (“FCC”) challenge of reallocating underutilized television broadcast spectrum for use in significantly higher value mobile broadband applications. The government must reallocate the spectrum in an economically and legally efficient manner, balancing the interests of the politically powerful broadcasters and those of society as a whole. Recently, the government has decided to explore ways to incentivize the broadcasters to voluntarily return their spectrum licenses. From a strictly legal perspective, the broadcasters have a relatively weak claim to property rights. However, the government has indicated …

Disclosure's Effects: Wikileaks And Transparency, Mark Fenster

Mark Fenster

When Retweets Attack: Are Twitter Users Liable For Republishing The Defamatory Tweets Of Others?, Daxton R. Stewart

Daxton "Chip" Stewart

Under the republication doctrine, repeating false and defamatory statements has traditionally triggered liability for the repeater. However, some confusion has emerged regarding retweeting the posts of others on Twitter, the popular microblog site. Does retweeting the defamatory statement of another open the retweeter to liability? This article examines exceptions to the republication doctrine such as the single publication rule, the wire service defense, and the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to answer this question. A review of court opinions leads to the conclusion that Section 230 of the CDA provides a powerful shield for users of interactive computer services such as …

Decoding First Amendment Coverage Of Computer Source Code In The Age Of Youtube, Facebook And The Arab Spring, Jorge R. Roig

Jorge R Roig