Law Commons^™

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 …

Cable Television, New Technologies And The First Amendment After Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. V. F.C.C., Erik Forde Ugland

Missouri Law Review

From the moment it emerged as an independently viable communications medium, the cable television industry has been forced to operate within the shadow of regulatory oversight. With passage of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992,' and judicial endorsement of much of that legislation in Turner BroadcastingSystem, Inc. v. F.C.C., cable's future rests squarely in the hands of the federal government. Congress, with some help from the Supreme Court, has made it clear that any blueprints for the future of the nation's communications infrastructure will have to pass through Washington. This article is divided into four parts. …

Empowerment Zones: Urban Revitalization Through Collaborative Enterprise, Audrey Mcfarlane

All Faculty Scholarship

The federal government recently designated six empowerment zones in selected urban areas as an urban revitalization demonstration program. The program is derived from the enterprise zone strategy promoted by former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp that sought to address urban poverty by encouraging business growth through deregulation and tax incentives. The Clinton administration modified the original concept and now refers to the target areas as empowerment zones. As the definitions of "enterprise" and "empower" indicate, renaming the zones reflects a significant shift in emphasis-from a focus on stimulating business enterprise through reducing regulation to one in which regulation is used to …

Sustainability: Myth And Reality, Kai Lee

Sustainable Use of the West's Water (Summer Conference, June 12-14)

23 pages (includes illustrations).

Contains references.

Regulating Viatical Settlements: Is The Invisible Hand Picking The Pockets Of The Terminally Ill?, Russell J. Herron

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The newly emerging viatical settlement industry has attracted considerable attention from both insurance regulators and advocates for the terminally ill. In a viatical settlement, a terminally ill person names a viatical settlement company as beneficiary under his life insurance policy in exchange for an immediate lump-sum cash payment of less than face value of the policy. To date, viatical settlement payments to people with AIDS (PWAs) have been disturbingly low as a percentage of the face value of PWA policies. This Note examines the few enacted viatical settlement regulations and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' model regulations as they …

The Information Highway Must Pay Its Way Through Cities: A Discussion Of The Authority Of State And Local Governments To Be Compensated For The Use Of Public Rights-Of-Way, Clarence A. West

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

In the ever-changing telecommunications industry there appears to be an enormous amount of confusion not only as to the appropriate amount of compensation chargeable to the users of public rights-of-way, but also as to the very authority of state and local governments to require compensation. This was not always the case. It has long been a well-settled legal principle that local governments may receive reasonable "rental" compensation from private commercial entities for their use of local public property for private economic gain, even where federal statutory law restricts local governments from denying access to rights-of-way for telecommunications services. For example, …

Telecommunications In Transition: Unbundling, Reintegration, And Competition, David J. Teece

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The world economy is experiencing a technological revolution, fueled by rapid advances in microelectronics, optics, and computer science, that in the 1990s and beyond will dramatically change the way people everywhere communicate, learn, and access information and entertainment. This technological revolution has been underway for about a decade. The emergence of a fully-interactive communications network, sometimes referred to as the "Information Superhighway," is now upon us. This highway, made possible by fiber optics and the convergence of several different technologies, is capable of delivering a plethora of new interactive entertainment, informational, and instructional services that are powerful and user-friendly. The …

Turner Broadcasting, The First Amendment , And The New Electronic Delivery Systems, Henry Geller

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

After ducking the issue of the First Amendment status of cable television for years, the United States Supreme Court rendered its most important decision concerning the regulation of the new electronic media in Turner Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC. Turner involved the constitutionality of the "must-carry" provisions of the 1992 Cable Act (the "Act" or "Cable Act") which require cable systems to carry specified local broadcast television stations. While cable television began over four decades ago as a community antenna service, it changed drastically after the advent of satellite in the mid-1970's to also provide scores of satellite-delivered programs and to …

Unconstitutional Telco-Cable Cross-Ownership Ban: It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time, Arthur Bresnahan

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

This article is a survey of the law regarding the federal government's ability to regulate a telephone company's provision of video programming to subscribers in its service area. Part I of the article is a history of the telco-cable cross-ownership ban. Part II is an analysis of the cases striking down the ban, exploring the rationale of these cases on a consolidated basis. Part III is a summary of the applicable standards by which to evaluate future attempts by Congress or the FCC to regulate telephone companies' provision of video programming.

Decreasing The Costs Of Jurisdictional Gridlock: Merger Of The Securities And Exchange Commission And The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Mark Frederick Hoffman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Jurisdictional conflict exists between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), primarily due to the language of the 1974 CFTC Act. This Act grants the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction to regulate certain financial instruments which, given the increasing complexity and "hybrid" nature of such instruments, might simultaneously be subject to SEC regulation. This Note first explores the history of the two agencies and the statutory language giving rise to the jurisdictional conflict. This Note then examines several instances of jurisdictional conflict that resulted in extensive costs for the respective agencies and the United States' financial …

Risk Regulations And Its Hazards, Stephen F. Williams

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Breaking the Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk Regulation by Stephen Breyer

Making Rules: An Introduction, Steven Croley

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Rulemaking: How Government Agencies Write Law and Make Policy by Cornelius M. Kerwin

English Law In The Age Of The Black Death, 1348-1381: A Transformation Of Governance And Law, Daniel B. Kosove

Michigan Law Review

A Review of English Law in the Age of the Black Death, 1348-1381: A Transformation of Governance and Law by Robert C. Palmer

Border Crossings: Nafta, Regulatory Restructuring, And The Politics Of Place, Ruth Buchanan

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Professor Buchanan begins her paper by questioning whether

recent economic and political shifts towards notions of

"globalization" (e.g., the NAFTA) have failed to consider the

politics or economics of change in particular places. Her prime

example of a "place" where integration is illogically forced against

a background of differentiation is the U.S.-Mexico border region.

Through the scope of a "regulatory complex" (a complex of legal,

institutional, regulatory, and social orderings), she departs from the

common view of the NAFTA as a productive tool of North American

integration, and instead views the NAFTA as exacerbating

"differences between localities, industries, and labor …

What Are We Managing Anyway?: The Need For An Interdisciplinary Approach To Managing Fisheries Ecosystems, Jean-Jacques Maguire, Barbara Neis, Peter R. Sinclair

Dalhousie Law Journal

Fisheries managers should really be attempting to manage the fishing fleets and the processing industry, not the fish. Consequently we argue that effective management ought to take an eco-systems approach that is necessarily interdisciplinary, incorporating both natural and social sciences. We ascribe the inadequate results of existing management regimes to scientific uncertainty, political pressures, the regulations' lack of legitimacy among fishers, and excessive reliance on individual fishers (rather than households and communities) as the unit of analysis. In a new interdisciplinary approach, we emphasize the contribution of social science in helping to understand what is defined as Scientific knowledge, how …

Good Will Adjustment Games: An Economic And Legal Analysis Of Secret Warranty Regulation, Jeff Sovern

Missouri Law Review

Secret warranty programs, which have existed for at least twenty years, are enormous in scope: nearly every car on the road is said to be subject to one of the more than 500 secret warranties supposedly operating at any given time,! while one expert estimates that the ten largest known secret warranty programs have covered 30 million automobiles and $3 billion in repairs. The purpose of this Article is to discuss whether secret warranties should be regulated, and if so, how. Part II of the Article reviews what is known about the working of secret warranty programs. Part III discusses …

The Use Of Audited Self-Regulation As A Regulatory Technique, Douglas C. Michael

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

At first blush, "self-regulation" seems to be self-contradicting. If government regulation of an industry or problem is considered necessary, how can that responsibility then be returned to those from whom it was taken? Notwithstanding this apparent contradiction, audited self-regulation is used successfully by federal regulatory agencies. It is apparently adopted, however, on an ad hoc basis: in one industry or application but not in another that possesses similar characteristics. This article reviews these previously uncollected efforts at audited self-regulation to evaluate the general usefulness of this regulatory technique across industries and applications. These insights would be relevant not only to …

White House Electronic Mail And Federal Recordkeeping Law: Press "D" To Delect History, James D. Lewis

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that federal recordkeeping law should promote the preservation of history above all other concerns. First, courts should construe and apply the recordkeeping statutes with this goal in mind. Second, Congress should amend the recordkeeping statutes to correct enforcement deficiencies that leave irresponsible recordkeeping practices unchecked and risk the loss of a historical record of White House decisionmaking. Finally, executive officials should adopt guidelines that identify and preserve historically significant materials regardless of the medium in which they are captured.

Part I of this Note examines the statutes that currently regulate the management and public disclosure of White …

Labor And The Global Economy: Four Approaches To Transnational Labor Regulation, Katherine Van Wezel Stone

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article examines the challenge to domestic labor regulation posed by the increasingly international economic and legal order. Part I analyzes the several ways in which increased global economic integration creates problems for labor. These problems include a decline in union bargaining power, a race-to-the-bottom in labor standards, and a weakening of labor's role as political actor. Part II identifies four approaches, or models, for transnational labor regulation that have emerged in the Western world in the past twenty years. These are: (1) preemptive legislation; (2) harmonization; (3) cross-border monitoring; and (4) extraterritorial jurisdiction. Part III explores the differences between …

U.S. Government Control Over The Export Of Scientific Research And Other Technical Data: Holes In The Sieve, Robert Greenspoon

Michigan Journal of International Law

In Part I, I establish the backdrop for answering the question by describing the kinds of scientific data that might be subject to security classification and export licensing. In Part II, I outline briefly who chooses what should be restricted and who enforces these restrictions. In Part III, I describe several situations in which the federal government has vigorously enforced controls over the dissemination of scientific information. I also analyze two recent cases involving computer software that I believe analogize directly to the scientific endeavor. Finally, in Part IV, I explain why First Amendment barriers, the growth of the Internet …

A Square Peg In A Vicious Circle: Stephen Breyer's Optimistic Prescription For The Regulatory Mess, Eric J. Gouvin

Faculty Scholarship

This Article reviews the book by Supreme Court Justice, Steven G. Breyer, "Breaking The Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk Regulation. " The Author discusses this book's most significant contribution that draws attention to the current regulatory regime's systemic problems, thereby encouraging serious discussion about how to "reinvent" the regulatory process. Breyer courageously points out that the political legitimacy of the process rests to some degree on the effectiveness of its product. This Review outlines the systemic problems and the "vicious circle" identified by Justice Breyer and then proceeds to review his proposed solution. The final part presents several criticisms of …

The Provision Of Utility Services In A Unified Europe, Klaus Sommerlad, Peter Scherer

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Transformation Of U.S. Banking And Finance: From Regulated Competition To Free-Market Receivership, Timothy A. Canova

Timothy A. Canova

This article offers a critique of the deregulation of banking and finance that started with the breakdown of the Bretton Woods regime of fixed exchange rates during the Nixon administration, accelerated with interest rate deregulation during the Carter administration, and was deepened during the Reagan administration. Deregulation is seen as a changing of paradigms, from the New Deal regulatory model that limited price competition and channeled credit to socially useful purposes. The monetary and fiscal implications are significant. The regulatory model, particularly in its heyday, served to limit the authority of the Federal Reserve, neutralized monetary policy, and invigorated other …

Liberalizing International Trade In Legal Services: A Proposal For An Annex On Legal Services Under The General Agreement On Trade In Services, Michael J. Chapman, Paul J. Tauber

Michigan Journal of International Law

The legal services industry is experiencing a fundamental transformation. Thirty years ago, legal markets were almost exclusively national; today, a global legal market is emerging and evolving at a considerable pace. Unfortunately, further globalization is hindered by the failure of national regulatory systems to respond effectively. Globalization has made domestic regulation more difficult because it increases the complexity of the interactions between lawyers, the legal system, and the authorities responsible for regulating the legal profession. As the process of globalization has blurred the distinction between national and international legal issues, an international regulatory regime governing transnational legal practice has become …

Regulatory Takings And Ripeness In The Federal Courts, Gregory M. Stein

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Supreme Court held in 1987 that compensation is required automatically whenever a municipality takes property by regulation. The Court has also held repeatedly that federal courts cannot even hear such claims until the landowner meets a demanding ripeness test. Landowners are often unable to survive the protracted ripening period even though their claims might ultimately have proved to be valid. And the occasional municipality that loses a takings case may be liable for a huge award that reflects the lengthy ripening period. Federal courts have persistently refused to acknowledge this tension between takings law and takings procedure.

This Article …

Double Jeopardy

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

On The Topology Of Uniform Environmental Standards In A Federal System And Why It Matters (Symposium: Environmental Federalism), James E. Krier

Articles

Uniform standards are much favored among the makers of federal environmental policy in the United States, which is to say, among the members of Congress. By and large-judging at least from the legislation it has enacted-Congress expects the air and water eventually to meet the same minimum levels of quality in every state in the country, and expects each pollution source in any industrial category or subcategory to be controlled just as much as every other such source, notwithstanding the source's location or other peculiar characteristics. There are exceptions to these generalizations, but they are exceptions and not the rule.1 …

The Case Against Regulating The Market For Contingent Employment, Maria O'Brien

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Coalbed Methane: Myths, Facts, And Legends Of Its History And The Legislative And Regulatory Climate Into The 21st Century, Elizabeth A. Mcclanahan

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.