Law Commons^™

The Rights Of Common Carriers And The Decision Whether To Be A Common Carrier Or A Non-Regulated Communications Provider, James H. Lister

Federal Communications Law Journal

The decision whether to be a regulated common carrier or a non-regulated communications provider carries with it numerous benefits and burdens that must be weighed. Although one may automatically assume that non-regulation is preferable, that may not always be the case. This Article directly addresses the decision of whether to be a lightly-regulated non-dominant common carrier or a non-regulated private carrier. The Article argues that certain statutory and regulatory rights enjoyed by common carriers are more important than the minimal regulatory burdens associated with non-dominant common carrier regulation.

The Art Of Writing Good Regulations, Harold W. Furchtgott-Roth

Federal Communications Law Journal

In this introduction to the three pieces that follow, Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth proposes his view that the regulation-drafting process relies more on art than science. The Commissioner sets out a four-category sliding scale to evaluate regulations, and lists the most frequently noted problems with FCC-promulgated rules.

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 …

Too Much Power, Too Little Restraint: How The Fcc Expands Its Reach Through Unenforceable And Unwieldy “Voluntary” Agreements, Bryan N. Tramont

Federal Communications Law Journal

The character of a regulatory agency is most severely tested at the zenith of its power. When the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC" or "Commission") breaks free of the limitations imposed by the law, the Commission’s leadership sets its own course. It is at these times, when legal oversight is at a minimum, that it becomes most important for the agency to "pay more attention to justice." Unfortunately, as outlined in this Article, the FCC has often failed this test of institutional character. In at least three contexts, the Commission has proven to be something less than a benevolent master. In …

Masthead Vol.53 No.1 (2000)

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Chasing Shadows: The Human Face Behind The Cyber Threat, Jim Chirsty

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Tangled Web: Tales of Digital Crime From the Shadows of Cyberspace, Richard Power, Que, 2000, 450 pages.

Richard Power’s Tangled Web: Tales of Digital Crime from the Shadows of Cyberspace presents a comprehensive account of computer crime. The book unveils and explores in meticulous detail the nature and scope, and—more importantly—the tremendous potential that common criminals, terrorists, and nation-states now have at their fingertips. This Review describes Tangled Web as a must-read for all cyber cops, prosecutors, and information technology heads and policy-makers.

The Fcc’S Implementation Of The 1996 Act: Agency Litigation Strategies And Delay, Rebecca Beynon

Federal Communications Law Journal

Since it began promulgating rules to implement the local competition provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC has been under attack in the courts. The road has been a rough one, and the Commission has lost on a good many issues. The Commission has regularly accused its opponents in these legal battles-chiefly the incumbent local exchange carriers-of using litigation to impede the implementation of the 1996 Act’s local competition provisions. As discussed in this Article, if litigation has in fact slowed the introduction of competition in the local exchange markets, the Commission itself must share some of the …

The Fcc’S Financial Qualification Requirements: Economic Evaluation Of A Barrier To Entry For Minority Broadcasters, Yale M. Braunstein

Federal Communications Law Journal

When analyzing issues surrounding minority ownership of media, scholars have often noted that policy discussions in the area suffer from the linked problems of inadequate data and a lack of tools with which to analyze the data that do exist and might be collected. In Issue Three of Volume 51, several authors made this particular observation. To address this problem, This Article shows how one may use economic analysis and a financial model of a "typical" radio broadcaster to quantify the effects of specific policies. Specifically, the Article focuses on barriers to entry imposed by the FCC’s financial qualification requirements …

Increasing Telephone Penetration Rates And Promoting Economic Development On Tribal Lands: A Proposal To Solve The Tribal And State Jurisdictional Problems, Jennifer L. King

Federal Communications Law Journal

Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress instructed the FCC to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable telecommunications services. Consistent with that mandate, the FCC implemented a series of public hearings to discuss with tribes the issues they face concerning low telephone penetration rates. The FCC recommended investigation of universal service in unserved and underserved areas because telephone penetration rates among low-income consumers on tribal lands lagged behind rates in the rest of the country. From these hearings, the FCC proposed a jurisdictional framework to determine which eligible carriers would be under tribal, state, or federal jurisdiction. This …

Editor's Note, Robyn M. Holtzman

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Fcc And Section 312(A)(7) Of The Communications Act Of 1934: The Development Of The “Unreasonable Access” Clause, Philip J. Gutwein Ii

Federal Communications Law Journal

Section 312(a)(7) of the Communications Act of 1934 requires that broadcast stations provide legally qualified candidates for federal elective office with reasonable access to advertising time on behalf of their candidacies. The FCC has long struggled with defining "reasonable access." On September 7, 1999, the FCC issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order in which it ruled that broadcast stations may not refuse a request for political advertising time solely because the station does not sell or program such lengths of time. This ruling came in response to a petition for reconsideration of an October 3, 1994 Declaratory Ruling, filed by …

Universal Service High-Cost Subsidy Reform: Hindering Cable-Telephony And Other Technological Advancements In Rural And Insular Regions, Emily L. Dawson

Federal Communications Law Journal

Universal service is a public policy initiative designed to ensure that all United States citizens receive widespread access to affordable telecommunications services. Customers in high-cost service regions such as rural and insular areas are typically excluded from the latest telecommunications technology. Most large carriers serving these regions prefer to implement technological updates in urban areas where profit margins are higher while allowing the rural infrastructure to deteriorate. The Federal Universal Service Fund currently offers subsidies to telecommunications providers serving high-cost regions, but the FCC has announced efforts to reform the subsidy allocation system that could potentially impede technological advancement in …

Proactive Legislation And The First Amendment, Stuart Minor Benjamin

Michigan Law Review

It is a commonplace that the world is changing rapidly, with whole sectors of the economy being transformed. New forms of communication, like the World Wide Web, e-mail, and satellite television, have risen from obscurity to ubiquity in less than a decade. The speed of these changes has led some to express concern about the ability of governments to respond. The fear is that governments cannot keep up with developments as they occur and thus get hopelessly behind. The solution, according to some, is for the government to act proactively - before a harm has arisen, so that the government …

Electronic Billboards Along The Information Superhighway: Liability Under The Lanham Act For Using Trademarks To Key Internet Banner Ads, Christine Galbraith Davik

Faculty Publications

With almost one billion web pages on the Internet today, a search engine is a necessity at times. But search engines are also for-profit ventures and the financial success of these sites hinges on advertising revenue. One of the ways in which these sites generate income is by selling “keywords” to advertisers. Although there has been only one judicial decision – Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Netscape Communications – involving banner ads keyed to trademarks, it will undoubtedly not be the last. This article argues that despite the invisible nature of this unauthorized trademark use, the common practice of keying a …

Telemedicine: Rx For The Future Of Health Care, Susan E. Volkert

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Quite simply, telemedicine symbolizes and catalyzes the clash between the reality of our legal and political approach to health care and the American dream of bringing health care to all patients. Telemedicine, like our health care delivery systems, is regulated by many layers of government. Unlike other issues, telemedicine cuts through and challenges the traditional controls of access and cost. As such, telemedicine is a microcosm of our health care delivery system and a lens through which one may analyze the obstacles to access in the current system. This article examines these issues, proposes that telemedicine's goal should be to …

Incitement To Violence On The World Wide Web: Can Web Publishers Seek First Amendment Refuge?, Lonn Weissblum

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The purpose of this comment is to analyze the potential First Amendment implications of the appearance of bomb-making instructions on the Web in the United States. Moreover, this comment will ultimately consider the notion that "because Brandenburg allows consideration of all the unique characteristics of the Web, there is no reason to formulate new jurisprudence merely because of new technology." Part II examines the seminal cases in the area of speech action, including Schenck v. United States, Hess v. Indiana, and Brandenburg v. Ohio, and the adulations and criticisms that resulted from these cases. Part III discusses the civil cases …

Editor's Note, Meggan L. Frye

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Viacom-Cbs Merger: Media Competition And Consolidation In The New Millennium, Andrew Jay Schwartzman

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Cbs-Viacom Merger: Impact On Journalism, Jim Parker

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Computer Code Vs. Legal Code: Setting The Rules In Cyberspace, Mark S. Nadel

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, by Lawrence Lessig, Basic Books, 1999, 230 pages.

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.

Cbs-Viacom And The Effects Of Media Mergers: An Economic Perspective, David Waterman

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Structural Regulation Of The Media And The Diversity Rationale, Jerome A. Barron

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Reflections On The Fcc’S Recent Approach To Structural Regulation Of The Electronic Mass Media, Lili Levi

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Editorial Rights Of Public Broadcasting Stations Vs. Access For Minor Political Candidates To Television Debates, Kyu Ho Youm

Federal Communications Law Journal

In Arkansas Education Television Commission v. Forbes, the Supreme Court of the United States held that a state-owned public station did not violate the First Amendment in excluding a third-party candidate from a political debate organized and broadcast by the television station because the debate was a nonpublic forum. In this Article, Professor Youm examines the constitutional and statutory framework on the access for political candidates to TV debates, the judicial interpretations of the political candidates' claim for access to public television debates, and the Supreme Court's balancing in Forbes of the conflicts between the candidates' access rights and the …

Business-Only E-Mail Policies In The Labor Organizing Context: It Is Time To Recognize Employee And Employer Rights, Allegra Kirsten Weiner

Federal Communications Law Journal

Cyberspace changed communication in the workplace. Now that employees are on employers' e-mail systems, union organizers can contact employees in the workplace, during working hours, without any of the obstacles that more traditional forms of union communication impose. Of course this new technologically-advanced labor organizing is ideal for the labor organizers, but it also interferes with the rights of employers. Which groups interests' prevail? Unfortunately there is no precedent. Normally, adherence to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decisions is the answer but no case has come before the NLRB that solves this issue. Therefore, employers and employees are left …

Interpreting The Copyright Act’S Section 201(C) Revision Privilege With Respect To Electronic Media, Robert Meitus

Federal Communications Law Journal

New electronic media-including CD-ROMs and online services such as LEXIS/NEXIS-offer new outlets to which traditional publishers can disseminate the content of their publications. Recently, in Tasini v. New York Times, freelance authors claimed that the publishing industry allegedly infringed their copyrights in the underlying works of authorship. In absence of express agreements to the contrary, the authors maintained that section 201(c) of the Copyright Act gives the publishers only the limited privilege of publishing an article as part of a "particular collective work, any revision of that collective work, and any later collective work in the same series" and that …

Growing Media Consolidation Must Be Examined To Preserve Our Democracy, Paul Wellstone

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Joint Statement Of Sumner M. Redstone Chairman And Chief Executive Officer Viacom Inc. And Mel Karmazin President And Chief Executive Officer Of Cbs Corp., Summer M. Redstone, Mel Karmazin

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

When Channel Surfers Flip To The Web: Copyright Liability For Internet Broadcasting, Baoding Hsieh Fan

Federal Communications Law Journal

Digital streaming capabilities have enabled real-time Internet transmission of video signals. The advent of "Webcasting" will potentially change the way in which programming reaches audiences-increasing diversity in content as well as customer choice. Currently, cable and satellite systems secure retransmission rights to broadcast programming through statutory copyrights, and debate has ensued over whether online retransmitters should benefit from the same. This Article describes the evolution of streaming video over the Internet and examines the economic exploitation of such technology. After offering an overview of the compulsory copyright system, the Article analyzes the applicability of statutory licenses to Internet retransmissions of …