Communications Law Commons^™

Seeing Beyond The Smoke And Mirrors: A Proposal For The Abandonment Of The Commercial Speech Doctrine And An Analysis Of Recent Tobacco Advertising Regulations, Scott Joachim

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Note examines the Supreme Court's struggles both in defining commercial speech and identifying the parameters of the commercial speech doctrine. The author analyzes a series of Supreme Court cases and concludes that the doctrine rests on an ill-defined notion of commercial speech and on illusory assumptions regarding the distinctions between commercial speech and more highly protected discourse such as political speech. The author concludes that the Court should abandon the commercial speech doctrine and provide commercial speech the full protections enjoyed by political speech. The Note next outlines President Clinton's and the FDA's recent tobacco advertising regulations and analyzes …

Introduction Of Daniel Schorr, Betty Medsger

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

The First Amendment Under Pressure, Daniel Schorr

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

What Are The Limitations On Freedom Of The Press, Daniel Schorr

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

Diversity And Minority Stereotyping In The Television Media: The Unsettled First Amendment Issue, Patricia M. Worthy

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Racial dissention and divisiveness continue to be among the most destructive and debilitating aspects of our society. Social scientists have raised serious questions about the role that television has played both in increasing the level of violence and intensity of racial disharmony in America. Most findings reveal that ethnic minorities are still negatively stereotyped as "criminals," "dangerous characters," or "clowns." The research literature also suggests that media distortions negatively impact the self-esteem of African- American children and may preclude them from achieving self-actualization or impede their ability to realize their full potential. In response to these and other concerns, the …

Markman And Hilton Davis, The Federal Circuit Strikes And Awkward Balance: The Roles Of The Judge And Jury In Patent Infringement Suits, Jason Scully

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently rendered two decisions which represent a compromise between increasing the power of the judge and maintaining a role for the jury. This Note. with reference to studies in juror comprehension and improved trial techniques, explores whether the court struck an appropriate balance.

The Case For Color-Blind Distress Sales, Michael E. Lewyn

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Under the Federal Communications Commission's "distress sale" policy, a broadcaster whose license has been designated for a revocation hearing, or whose renewal application has been designated for hearing, may assign the license to an FCC-approved minority enterprise at a discount price before the hearing. Under recent Supreme Court precedent restricting the use of race-conscious federal measures, the distress sale policy may soon be declared unconstitutional.

If the distress sale policy is declared unconstitutional, the FCC has two significant alternatives. First, the FCC may abolish the distress sale policy altogether. Second, the FCC may create a color-blind distress sale policy which …

Return To Hot Wheels: The Fcc, Program-Length Commercials, And The Children's Television Act Of 1990, Allen K. Rostron

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In the Children's Television Act of 1990, Congress directed the FCC to address the problem of "program-length commercials" aimed at children. Such programs, essentially thirty-minute ads for toys and other products, proliferated during the 1980s as the FCC deregulated children's television. In response to the Children's Television Act, the FCC adopted a policy that purported to address the problem, but actually avoided facing it. In its rule-making proceeding, the FCC disregarded Congress' concerns, misconstrued the issue presented, and mischaracterized the ineffective policy adopted as consistent with FCC rulings of the 1960s and 1970s. The need continues for a more effective …

The Communications Decency Act And The Indecent Indecency Spectacle, David Kushner

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This essay situates the Communications Decency Act in contemporary jurisprudence and our postmodern culture. The author analyzes why both the proscription of indecency in cyberspace and the prescription of television ratings are unconstitutional. More importantly, the essay argues that cyberspace must be viewed as a post modern spectacle. The production forces of late capitalism have commodified sex and violence, making them the principal fruits of desire in cyberspace. These cultural urges, in conjunction with the convergence of telecommunications technologies, render the CDA and like forms of censorship fundamentally unenforceable. The essay concludes by suggesting the serious implications for First Amendment …

The Shirts Off Their Backs: Colleges Getting Away With Violating The Right Of Publicity, Vladimir P. Belo

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The popularity of college athletics is at an all-time high in the United States. Colleges and universities have capitalized on the enthusiasm through marketing merchandise aimed at taking advantage of the growing popularity. Recently, colleges have begun using the popularity of individual student-athletes by marketing clothing featuring uniform numbers of high-profile players on their tiams. This Note examines this latest trend in college sports merchandising.

This Note suggests that the marketing of this type of merchandise may violate student-athletes' common law and statutory rights of publicity. This Note chronicles the development of right of publicity law, concluding that a college …

Making The World Wide Web Safe For Democracy: A Medium-Specific First Amendment Analysis, Andrew Chin

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The World Wide Web, a vast speech domain that may ultimately swallow all current forms of telecommunications media, presents urgent First Amendment issues. Most significantly, the structure of linked documents on the Web has served to concentrate speech power and impoverish democratic discourse. As extensive surveys by the author and others demonstrate, commercial speech dominates the Web and political discourse on the Web has become balkanized.

Using a quantitative model, it is possible to isolate and identify the characteristics of Web sites that contribute to robust public debate. These findings suggest a range of structural policies that would support the …

Access To Premises And Easements: Can The Cable Operator Come In, Philip Kantor

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article reviews the attempts by cable television operators to access easements in order to provide their service to television watchers. Cable operators first attempted to use state common law of apportionment in order to access utility easements. In order to argue that an easement could be apportioned, the operator needed to show that the easement was compatible for cable use and that use would not place an additional burden on the servient estate. Many courts have found that utility companies are authorized to share or apportion their easement rights with a third party, without obtaining the permission of, or …

Rating The Net, Jonathan Weinberg

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Rating systems provide an impressive solution to the problem of sexually explicit speech on the Internet. Members of the Internet community are rightly enthusiastic about the benefits filtering software promises. Those benefits, though, come at a cost. Sites may be stripped out of the filtered universe because of deliberate political choices on the part of ratings service administrators, and because of inaccuracies inherent in the ratings process. If a ratings service is to categorize a large number of sites, it cannot simultaneously achieve consistency and nuance; the techniques it must rely on to achieve consistency make it more difficult to …

Introduction - Safe Harbors And Stern Warnings: Fcc Regulation Of Indecent Broadcasting, Richard C. Turkington

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of The United States Court Of Appeals For The District Of Columbia Circuit On Broadcast Indecency Policy, Jeremy Harris Lipschultz

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Vagueness And Indecency, Jonathan Weinberg

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

The Journalist's Privilege: Ensuring That Compelled Disclosure Is The Exception, Not The Rule - Shoen V. Shoen, Kevin J. Baum

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Prior Restraints On The Media And The Right To A Fair Trial: A Proposal For A New Standard, 84 Ky. L.J. 259 (1996), Alberto Bernabe

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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

Articles

No abstract provided.

Commercial Exploitation Or Protected Use? Stern V. Delphi Internet Services Corporation And The Erosion Of The Right Of Publicity, Karin M. Mika, Aaron J. Reber

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article addresses the repercussions of Stern v. Delphi Internet Services Corporation and argues that the decision in Stern opens the door to a broader interpretation of “newsworthiness” and “public interest” that will enable advertisers broader First Amendment protections when using “unauthorized” likenesses. This article posits that artful advertisers could very well use the theory of Stern as a basis for virtually ensuring that every “unauthorized likeness” will enjoy First Amendment protection and not be considered as violative of the right of publicity.

The Communications Assistance For Law Enforcement Act And Protection Of Cordless Telephone Communications: The Use Of Technology As A Guide To Privacy, Basil W. Mangano

Cleveland State Law Review

While it is now illegal to intentionally intercept cordless telephone conversations, cordless telephone users have not always been protected. Prior to October 1994 the Federal Wiretap Act did not protect cordless telephone users from private persons or law enforcement agencies who intentionally intercepted their conversations. In fact, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) amended Title III of the of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to expressly exclude cordless telephone transmissions from the definition of "wire" and "electronic" communications. With the advent of new cordless technology and the ubiquitousness of the cordless telephone, Congress …

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

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Implications Of National Security Safeguards On The Commercialization Of Remote Sensing Imagery, Youssef Sneifer

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment offers a critique of the national security restrictions contained in the United States policy and regulations and the uncertainty they inject into the commercialization of remote sensing imagery. After providing a brief technical description of remote sensing technology and the market realities associated with remote sensing imagery, this Comment analyzes the legislation and regulations affecting the private sector's commercialization and dissemination of remote sensing imagery with a special emphasis on national security concerns. Specifically, it reviews the Clinton Administration's policy with regard to the commercialization of remote sensing imagery, tracing its origins to the international obligations of the …

Book Review. Telecom Regulation Monitor (S. Gieman And E. Herman, Eds.), Juliet Casper Smith

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Federal Broadband Law, John Thorne, Michael K. Kellog, Peter W. Huber, Jeffrey A. Wolfson

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

The authors of this book have brought together a vast and varied array of experience. Mr. Thorne is the Vice President & Associate General Counsel for Bell Atlantic; Mr. Huber is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research; and Mr. Kellogg is a Partner at Kellogg, Huber, Hansen & Todd. A reader will find the occasional use of technical jargon, such as "domsats" (domestic satellites), "coax" (coaxial cable), and "syndex" rules (syndicated exclusivity rules to protect syndicated, non-network programming) to be somewhat confusing. "Telcos" and "cablecos" are telephone and cable companies, respectively. Overall, however, technical jargon is …

Search And Seizure Of The Press, Christie A. Mcneill

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In the companion cases of Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v. Lessard and Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v. New Brunswick (AG.), the Supreme Court of Canada decided that the media should not have any special protection from police search and seizure above that afforded to ordinary citizens. In refusing to create a standard of heightened constitutional protection to be met before a search warrant can be issued against the press, the Court turned a blind eye to its past interpretations of section 8 of the Charter as containing a standard of reasonableness that varies depending upon the context of the search and the …

The Big Chill: Third-Party Documents And The Reporter's Privilege, Bradley S. Miller

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In the wake of Philip Morris' multi-billion dollar libel suit against ABC, a Virginia court has sanctioned a new method of discovery that promises to have an unsettling impact on the reporter's privilege to protect confidential sources. In Philip Morris Cos. v. American Broadcasting Cos., the tobacco giant moved to compel disclosure of the identity of a former R.J. Reynolds manager who suggested on ABC's Day One news program that tobacco companies add nicotine to the cigarettes they manufacture. At the same time, Philip Morris issued subpoenas for the expense records of two ABC employees who wrote and produced …

Telephone Companies, The First Amendment, And Technological Convergence, Fred H. Cate

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Evening Hours During Pacifica Standard Time, C. Edwin Baker

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

A Historical Perspective On The Protection Of Children From Broadcasting Indecency, Edythe Wise

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.