Law Commons^™

You Said What? The Perils Of Content-Based Regulation Of Public Broadcast Underwriting Acknowledgments, Andrew D. Cotlar

Federal Communications Law Journal

Public broadcast stations in the United States are forbidden to air promotional announcements in exchange for payment from commercial entities. However, these stations must acknowledge any financial contribution from donors that support particular programs without promoting the goods and services offered by those donors. While the FCC has attempted to maintain the conceptual distinction between promotional and nonpromotional information, it has struggled to apply this distinction within the context of an evolution in advertising practice.

As a result, many noncommercial educational licensees find it difficult to apply the FCC's rules. A careful analysis of how the FCC underwriting determinations yields …

Municipal Broadband: Challenges And Perspectives, Craig Dingwall

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article reviews the status and challenges of municipal broadband and provides recommendations for responsible municipal broadband deployment. The Author reviews broadband demand; possible justifications for and the status of municipal broadband deployment; speed, feature, and price considerations; regulatory and technical issues; and relevant laws and legislation. The Author offers specific national policy recommendations and concludes that government/industry partnerships offer perhaps the best solution for municipal broadband deployment where broadband needs aren't met.

Analyzing The World Bank's Blueprint For Promoting "Information And Communications", Sherille Ismail

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Information and Communications for Development 2006: Global Trends and Policies, issued by the World Bank.

This Review provides a summary and brief analysis of foreign private investment, the book's blueprint for reform, and how investments have fared in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty. The book is a valuable asset for governments, scholars, investors, and the international community seeking to serve end users in developing countries.

Broadcast Technology As Diversity Opportunity: Exchanging Market Power For Multiplexed Signal Set- Asides, Michael M. Epstein

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article proposes an access system based on a theory of quid pro quo: a bargained.for-exchange in which broadcasters would trade media access for market power. Under this quid pro quo approach, the FCC would administer a scaled metric whereby the greater a media company's audience reach, the more access that company must provide to citizens with diverse and local content. Since digital technology permits broadcasters to "multiplex" their television signal bandwidth into multiple signal programming streams, an opportunity exists for the government to require public access to one or more of these programming streams in return for relaxing caps …

The Legal Status Of Spyware, Daniel B. Garrie, Alan F. Blakley, Mathew J. Armstrong

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article examines the legal status of Spyware under federal and common law in the United States of America. The Authors begin with a technical overview of Spyware technology, which covers Spyware's functionality, methods of dispersion, and classification. The Authors then analyze the treatment of Spyware under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Wiretap Act, and under general tort claims of trespass to chattels, invasion of privacy, and intrusion upon seclusion. The Authors conclude that none of the aformentioned causes of action provide an adequate remedy at law for Spyware victims. Moreover, the Authors note …

Opening Bottlenecks: On Behalf Of Mandated Network Neutrality, Bill D. Herman

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article calls for mandated "network neutrality," which would require broadband service providers to treat all nondestructive data equitably. The Author argues that neutral networks are preferable because they better foster online innovation and provide a more equitable distribution of the power to communicate. Without mandated network neutrality, providers in highly concentrated regional broadband markets will likely begin charging content providers for the right to send data to end users at the fastest speeds available. The Author demonstrates that regional broadband competition and forthcoming transmission technologies are unlikely to prevent broadband discrimination, ad hoc regulation under current statutory authority is …

From At&T To Brand X Declining Checks And Balances In An Increasingly Complex Marketplace, Ross G. Hicks

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

When President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, he used the same pen that President Eisenhower used to sign legislation for the Interstate Highway system into law. It was a fitting analogy. In the same way that the interstate road system was expected to open up interstate commerce, the Internet system was expected to open up electronic commerce. In signing the 1996 legislation into law, President Clinton and Congress were updating the regulatory and legislative framework to adapt it to the new realities and opportunities provided by the Internet. The legislation noted that broadband access to the Internet was …

The Information Quality Act: The Little Statute That Could (Or Couldn't?) Applying The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments Of 1996 To The Federal Communications Commission, Kellen Ressmeyer

Federal Communications Law Journal

In December 2000, Congress passed the Information Quality Act - a two sentence rider to a 712-page Appropriations Bill. The Information Quality Act, which seeks to ensure the quality of government-disseminated information, places the White House Office of Management and Budget in a supervisory role. The Office of Management and Budget subsequently finalized a set of mandatory Guidelines applicable to all federal agencies. Among other things, the Guidelines require adherence to the scientific standard articulated in the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act where such agencies engage in risk analysis to human health, safety, and the environment. As …

Administrative Law, Martin M. Wilson, Jennifer A. Blackburn

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys cases from the Georgia Supreme Court and the Georgia Court of Appeals from June 1, 2005 through May 31, 2006 in which principles of administrative law were either illuminated or formed an important piece of the decisionmaking. For a change, the Authors observed a significant decrease in the number of reported cases during the survey period, but that drop should certainly not be interpreted as any type of trend. No attempt has been made to survey cases that would properly fall under categories of more specific articles in this issue, although some degree of overlap is inevitable …

Democratizing The Administrative State, Richard J. Pierce Jr.

William & Mary Law Review

Scholars have long questioned the political and constitutional legitimacy of the administrative state. By 1980, a majority of Supreme Court Justices seemed poised to hold that large portions of the administrative state are unconstitutional. In 1984, the Court retreated from that abyss and took a major step toward legitimating and democratizing the administrative state. It instructed lower courts to defer to any reasonable agency interpretation of an ambiguous agency-administered statute, basing this doctrine of deference on the superior political accountability of agencies. Henceforth, politically unaccountable judges were prohibited from substituting their policy preferences for those of politically accountable agencies. The …

The Fcc's Indecent Proposal: Copyright Implications Of The Proposed "Record And Retain" Rule, Christopher S. Reed

Buffalo Intellectual Property Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Examining The 2005 U.S. Forest Service Planning Rule: How To Improve A Document Which Does Nothing But Means Everything, Michael Laurence Nisengard

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Inside The Administrative State: A Critical Look At The Practice Of Presidential Control, Lisa Schultz Bressman, Michael P. Vandenbergh

Michigan Law Review

From the inception of the administrative state, scholars have proposed various models of agency decision-making to render such decision-making accountable and effective, only to see those models falter when confronted by actual practice. Until now, the "presidential control" model has been largely impervious to this pattern. That model, which brings agency decision-making under the direction of the president, has strengthened over time, winning broad scholarly endorsement and bipartisan political support. But it, like prior models, relies on abstractions - for example, that the president represents public preferences and resists parochial pressures that do not hold up as a factual matter. …

"Standard" And "Alternative" Environmental Protection: The Changing Role Of Environmental Agencies, George B. Wyeth

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Administrative Agencies: A Comparison Of New Hampshire And Federal Agencies’ History, Structure And Rulemaking Requirements, Scott F. Johnson

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "In this day and age it is difficult to think of anything that is not regulated in some way by a state or federal agency. State and federal agencies routinely make decisions that impact our daily lives. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the places where we live and work are all regulated to some extent.

Agencies sometimes regulate things in ways that lead to strange results. For example, New Hampshire, state regulations allow anyone to own a yak, a bison, a wild boar, or an emu, but …

Examining Epact 2005: A Prospective Look At The Changing Regulatory Approach Of The Ferc, Heather Curlee

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Tough Pill To Swallow: Does The First Amendment Prohibit Wv From Regulating Pharmaceutical Companies' Advertising Expenses To Lower The Cost Of Prescription Drugs?, Brienne Taylor Greiner

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Review And The "Hard Look" Doctrine, Patrick M. Garry

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Federal Employment Law: Current Problems And A Call For Reform, Joseph Prud'homme

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act: Ten Years Later, Pat Aufderheide

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Open Video Systems: Too Much Regulation Too Late?, Micha Botein

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Law Of Unintended Consequences, Susan Ness

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Interconnection Policy And Technological Progress, Gerald W. Brock

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

No Sight Like Hindsight: The 1996 Act And The View Ten Years Later, Donna N. Lampert

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Looking Backwards And Looking Forwards In Contemplating The Next Rewrite Of The Communications Act, Johannes M. Bauer, Steven S. Wildman

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Swallows, Sausages, And The 1996 Act, Daniel B. Phythyon

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Deregulation And Market Concentration: An Analysis Of Post- 1996 Consolidations, Eli M. Noam

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Failure Of Competition Under The 1996 Telecommunications Act, Gene Kimmelman, Mark Cooper, Magda Herra

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rivalrous Telecommunications Networks With And Without Mandatory Sharing, Thomas W. Hazlett

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act, Jim Robbins

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.