Communications Law Commons^™

Prometheus Radio Project V. Fcc: The Persistence Of Scarcity, Aaron Perzanowski

Articles

Part I traces the history of broadcast regulation, emphasizing the development of the scarcity doctrine and the subsequent deregulatory trend. Part II examines the FCC's 2003 rule changes and the Third Circuit's analysis of those modifications in Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC. Part III analyzes the assumptions underlying the FCC's proffered explanation for its rule changes, ultimately concluding that they lack justification, and offers suggestions for responsible ownership deregulation. Part IV calls on Congress to reassert itself as the final arbiter of media policy.

Queers Anonymous: Lesbians, Gay Men, Free Speech, And Cyberspace, Edward D. Stein

Articles

The expansion of cyberspace in the past decade has created unprecedented opportunities for communication, both across the globe and across the street. The Internet and other forms of cyberspace have provided new avenues for anonymous and pseudonymous communication. Individuals can now interact without the traditional constraints of time, place, and manner of communication.

Professionalism, Oversight, And Institution-Balancing: The Supreme Court's "Second Best" Plan For Political Debate On Television, Lili Levi

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Televised political debates have become a staple of modern elections. Proponents of open access to such debates argue that third party participation is a democratic necessity. They see as catastrophic the Supreme Court's decision in Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes, in which a state broadcaster was given the discretion to exclude a minor party candidate from a televised debate so long as the decision was viewpoint-neutral. This Article reads the Court's decision as a functional, "second best" solution that seeks to mediate the expressive and democratic values implicated in both open and closed access models. More generally, the …

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

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No abstract provided.

Reporting The Official Truth: The Revival Of The Fcc's News Distortion Policy, Lili Levi

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No abstract provided.

Telecommunications In The Twenty-First Century: Global Perspectives On Community And Diaspora Among Netcitizens, Madeleine M. Plasencia

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The Internet brings heady communications opportunities to those who have access to the Internet. Yet, mounting evidence has proven that a gap or divide exists on Internet usage and access. The divide exists within the United States and, increasingly, on a global basis. Part I of this Article introduces the term "digital divide" and explores the deployment of advanced telecommunications in the United States. Part II traces patterns of access to the Internet based on race and income and subordinates the statistical evidence to the realities of lack of access, and lends a human face to contextualize the real losses …

The Politics Of Race On The Electronic Highway: An Analysis Of The Video Dialtone Redlining Cases And The Nynex Consent Decree In Roxbury, Madeleine M. Plasencia

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No abstract provided.

Why The Proposal To Legalize Physician-Assisted Suicide In Michigan Failed, Yale Kamisar

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Some commentators and participants in the national debate over physician-assisted suicide (PAS) made much of the fact that in 1997 Oregon voters reaffirmed their support for assisted suicide by a much larger margin than the initial 1994 vote. The state legislature had put the initiative (which had initially passed by a 5149% vote) back on the ballot for an unprecedented second vote. This time the initiative was reaffirmed overwhelmingly, 60-40%. Barbara Coombs Lee, Executive Director of Compassion in Dying (an organization that counsels people considering PAS and one of the plaintiffs in Washington v. Glucksberg, 1997), hailed the second Oregon …

Why Did Voters Reject Michigan's Physician-Assisted Suicide Initiative?, Yale Kamisar

Articles

In November 1997, when Oregon voters reaffirmed their support for doctor-assisted suicide, some commentators called it a turning point for the "right to die" movement. But the lopsided defeat of a similar proposal in Michigan is a better barometer: in general, assisted suicide continues to fare badly in the political arena.

Enlightenment, Donald J. Herzog

Articles

It's a curious broadside, a work of austere graphics and polite prose far removed from the mischievous engravings and bawdy ballads usually appearing on such sheets. Drawn from an address that 345 printers had signed and 138 had presented to the queen, the original text was committed to parchment "and accompanied by a Copy surperbly printed on white Satin, edged with white Silk Fringe, backed with purple Satin, and mounted in an Ivory Roller with appropriate Devices." Even in the published version, the arch is full of intricately detailed work. The printers took pride in their craftmanship: "This Specimen of …

The Association Of American Law Schools, Section On Mass Communications Law 1997 Annual Conference Panel: Sex, Violence, Children & The Media: Legal, Historical &Empirical; Perspectives, Lili Levi

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No abstract provided.

Stupid Lawyer Tricks: An Essay On Discovery Abuse, Charles M. Yablon

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The article critiques the prevalent approaches to addressing discovery abuse in legal proceedings, arguing that traditional methods focusing on moralizing about civility are ineffective. Instead, it proposes a more direct approach, inspired by parental discipline, where judges should firmly tell lawyers to cease abusive behavior. The author draws on Aristotle's concept of "akrasia" (moral weakness) to explain why lawyers often engage in counterproductive tactics, suggesting that emotional impulses and the pressure to win drive such actions. The article advocates for innovative solutions to deter discovery abuse, emphasizing the need to make such behavior less enjoyable through targeted sanctions and increased …

The Fcc, Indecency, And Anti-Abortion Political Advertising, Lili Levi

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No abstract provided.

Not With A Bang But A Whimper: Broadcast License Renewal And The Telecommunications Act Of 1996, Lili Levi

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No abstract provided.

The Once And Future Property-Based Vision Of The First Amendment, John O. Mcginnis

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The growth of the information superhighway depends not only on technological developments, but also on our society's commitment to the free flow of information. Paradoxically, however, as the digital revolution in telecommunications is bringing the information superhighway into sharp focus, the justifications for contemporary First Amendment jurisprudence are becoming blurred.

The Hard Case Of Broadcast Indecency, Lili Levi

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No abstract provided.

Dangerous Liaisons: Seduction And Betrayal In Confidential Press-Source Relations, Lili Levi

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No abstract provided.

Contingent Fees Without Contingencies: Hamlet Without The Prince Of Demark?, Lester Brickman

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According to conventional wisdom virtually all contingent fee percentages exceeding fifty percent are illegal and excessive, but most lower percentages are valid. This Article challenges the conventional wisdom, an amalgam of the unassailability of the standard one-third rate, notions of fairness versus price gouging, lawyer effort versus lawyer' reward, and the right of a lawyer to contract freely for a fee. It advances instead two propositions for determining the legitimacy of contingent fees. The first is that for a contingent fee to be valid, there must be an actual contingency, which means a realistic risk of nonrecovery. Though this proposition …

Tax Accrual Workpapers: Protected By A Limited Privilege?, Patricia D. White

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United States of America

v.

Arthur Young & Company and Amerada Hess Corporation

(Docket No. 82-687)

To be argued January 16, 1984

Liability Of Corporations For Slander, Horace Lafayette Wilgus

Articles

S. entrusted by the president and general manager of a corporation with the business of obtaining a settlement from plaintiff for a mistakenly supposed shortage in his accounts with the corporation, falsely orally charged him with embezzlement. This charge was made to R., president of another corporation for which the plaintiff was working at the time, and as a step toward getting a settlement by the plaintiff. On the request for a directed verdict, by the defendant, the legal question was presented whether a corporation is liable for slander spoken by the agent of the corporation in the course of …