Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Law
My View From The Doorstep Of Fcc Change, Kathleen Q. Abernathy
My View From The Doorstep Of Fcc Change, Kathleen Q. Abernathy
Federal Communications Law Journal
Commissioner Abernathy discusses the five key principles that inform her regulatory philosophy:
1) Congress sets the FCC's responsibilities in the Communications Act, and the Commission should faithfully implement those tasks rather than pursuing an independent agenda;
2) Fully functioning markets deliver better products and services to consumers as compared to markets regulated by the government. Unless structural factors prevent markets from being competitive, or Congress has established objectives (such as universal service) that are not market-based, government should be reluctant to intervene in the marketplace;
3) Where the FCC promulgates rules, it should ensure that those rules are clear and …
Communications Media And The First Amendment: A Viewpoint-Neutral Fcc Is Not Too Much To Ask For, Helgi Walker
Communications Media And The First Amendment: A Viewpoint-Neutral Fcc Is Not Too Much To Ask For, Helgi Walker
Federal Communications Law Journal
In the "new economy" driven by the telecommunications industry, the FCC is a busy agency. Given the myriad legal issues faced daily by agency decisionmakers and the lack of perfect clarity in major communications legislation, a few legal missteps here and there by the FCC might be expected. In one area, however, the public can and should demand a first-rate agency record: regulation of communications media without regard to the viewpoint expressed via that media, as the First Amendment requires. This Article offers two case studies in which the FCC arguably took viewpoint-discriminatory actions with regard to regulated broadcasters, and …