Communications Law Commons^™

Masthead Vol.50 No.3 (1998)

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Michael M. Pratt

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

First Amendment Trump?: The Uncertain Constitutionalization Of Structural Regulation Separating Telephone And Video, Susan Dente Ross

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Cable Act of 1984 contained a "cross-ownership" ban, which prohibited telephone companies from entering the local cable video market. Although the ban was challenged by telephone carriers on numerous grounds, the First Amendment was not the basis of any challenge until the mid-1990s when telephone companies sought to characterize themselves not just as carriers but as content suppliers, or "speakers," who were deprived of their right to speak as a result of common carrier regulations that were intended merely to control the economic structure of the communications industry. Using the First Amendment as a new-found constitutional weapon to challenge …

In Search Of A Smoking Gun: Tortious Interference With Nondisclosure Agreements As An Obstacle To Newsgathering, Mark J. Chasteen

Federal Communications Law Journal

In November 1995, the prominent CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes refrained from broadcasting an important interview with a former vice president of Brown & Williamson for fear of being liable for tortiously interfering with a confidentiality agreement between the employee and the tobacco company. This event illustrates a new concern facing media: specifically whether liability arises from broadcasting information that would be considered protected speech had the source not been a party to a nondisclosure agreement. It also illustrates an area of First Amendment jurisprudence that is as yet uncharted and for which there is no established standard that is easily …

Creating Better Incentives Through Regulation: Section 271 Of The Communications Act Of 1934 And The Promotion Of Local Exchange Competition, Tim Sloan

Federal Communications Law Journal

The overriding goal of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is to promote competition in all telecommunications markets. Section 271 of the Act addresses competition in the local telecommunications market. This section provides that, with appropriate competition in the local exchange market, Bell Operating Companies shall be allowed to offer in-region, interLATA services. Although Bell Operating Companies have applied to offer such services, the FCC has yet to grant a section 271 application. Through these denials, the Commission has begun to construe the frequently ambiguous text included in Track A and Track B of section 271. A further understanding of the …

Balancing The Scales: The 1996 Telecommunications Act And Eleventh Amendment Immunity, Cynthia L. Bauerly

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 explicitly created a role for federal courts in the interconnection process. However, parties' ability to seek federal review of interconnection agreements is no longer as straightforward as the language of the Act implies. The Supreme Court's unnecessarily novel and narrow reading of Eleventh Amendment immunity in Seminole Tribe v. Florida renders unenforceable the federal review provisions of the Act against state regulatory commissions. While some interconnection agreements may find their way into federal court, for example, where a party seeking to interconnect sues an incumbent provider instead of the state commission, enforcement of a federal …

Digital Television History: "Take One", Herbert A. Terry

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Defining Vision: The Battle for the Future of Television, By Joel Brinkley.

Masthead Vol.50 No.2 (1998)

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Networked Health Information: Assuring Quality Control On The Internet, Kristin B. Keltner

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Clinton Administration's Health Information and Applications Working Group promotes networked health information provided to all citizens through the Internet as one way to lower health care costs while improving the health of Americans. Managed care organizations and private health information providers already use the World Wide Web to disseminate consumer health information to broad segments of society. No standards exist to ensure that the information these Web sites carry is accurate and otherwise free from corruption. Disclaimers as to the reliability of the information as well as to the responsibility of the information provider for any harm caused by …

Section 253 Of The Telecommunications Act Of 1996: A Permanent Physical Appropriation Of Private Property That Must Be Justly Compensated, Jennifer L. Worstell

Federal Communications Law Journal

Section 253 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was promulgated in an effort to remove unnecessary regulation by local governments and open up competition among local phone companies, cable providers, and other telecommunications concerns. However, this provision effectively prohibits local governments from managing their rights-of-way. Furthermore, it violates modern Fifth Amendment takings jurisprudence, Section 253 and the first three FCC and court decisions examining it not only have jeopardized effective municipal management and resource allocation discretion, but also have usurped local governments' property rights without just compensation in explicit violation of the United States Constitution.

The Book In Retrospect, David Rudenstine

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Pentagon Papers - Victory For A Free Press, William R. Glendon

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Competition In Telecommunications, Oregon Law Institute, Michael T. Weirich, Charles L. Best, Arthur Butler, David C. Olson, Walter Hyer, Simon J. Ffitch, Bradley F. Tellam

Oregon Law Institute, 1998

Course Materials from the February 6, 1998 Program in Portland

Privacy On-Line: Washington Report, Nicholas W. Allard

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Over the last year there have been significant developments marking the emergence of a framework for national and international policy relating to privacy on the Internet and World Wide Web. This Article details recent cyberpolicy activities in Washington, including the Clinton Administration's 1997 White Paper, which outlines the Administration's strategy for fostering business and consumer confidence in global electronic commerce. This Article also discusses recent Federal Trade Commission guidelines for regulation and developments relating to privacy on-line in the European Union. This Article summarizes proposed legislation in the areas of both encryption and privacy.

Should Congress Regulate Cyberspace, Greg Y. Sato

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The Internet has undergone an amazing transformation in recent years. It has evolved from being a medium used exclusively by "techies" to one of general public consumption and utility. Because of this increased interest in and use of the Internet, cyberspace is quickly becoming an important forum for communication and commerce.

This Note discusses the history of the Internet, what makes it unique, and the current state of the law relating to cyberspace. This Note also examines the issue of whether congressional regulation of the Internet is needed. The author suggests that some intervention by Congress is needed because current …

Setting The Standard: Problems Presented To Patent Holders Participating In The Creation Of Industry Uniformity Standards, David M. Schneck

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Note examines the problems that arise when the owner of proprietary rights participate in the setting of open industry uniformity standards. These open standards typically include patented technology, sometimes due to the participation of the patent owners in developing the industry standard. Often, standards development committees require disclosure of patents held by participants. After widespread adoption of the standard occurs, the patent owners then face the dilemma of either abandoning some part of their patents or attempting to enforce their patents in courts inclined to hold them estopped. This Note discusses recent developments in this area, including judicial hostility …

Jazzing Up The Copyright Act - Resolving The Uncertainties Of The United States Anti-Bootleggin Law, Susan M. Deas

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

With the addition of Section 1101 to United States copyright law, the United States Congress did more than just attempt to bring United States law into compliance with its obligations under TRIPs. By allowing live musical performers to seek remedies against anyone who, without performers' consent, commits Section 1101 subject acts, such as fixation of the sounds or sounds and images of the performers' live musical performance, Congress granted a type of protection of well-nigh constitutional significance. That is, Congress granted protection to unfixed material-an enactment that departs from the traditional interpretation of the Copyright Clause power as permitting congressional …

Licensed To Kill: The Battle Between Patent And Antitrust In Monopoly Leveraging Cases, David A. Schnider

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note puts a new spin on a longstanding subject of scholarship and controversy in the law: the conflict between the patent and antitrust laws in the United States. The author examines this conflict in the context of monopoly leveraging cases. Since patents are a unique and powerful tool that companies use to gain advantage in the marketplace, they seem to allow the owner to engage in behavior which amounts to monopoly leveraging. However, such conduct is prohibited under the antitrust laws, specifically by Section 2 of the Sherman Act. If a patent exists to give its owner certain commercial …

Type No Evil: The Proper Latitude Of Public Educational Institutions In Restricting Expressions Of Their Students On The Internet, Garner K. Weng

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In this article, Mr. Weng discusses the growing problem of regulation and suppression by academic institutions of offensive or political communications transmitted by students over the Internet. The article explores the traditional powers of schools to regulate student communication and attempts to define what types of regulations are legally permissible. The article also examines the cases which do not fall into this traditional category, which are subject to a standard First Amendment analysis, and argues that the fact that this conduct involves Internet communications does not require a different standard than is used for other forms of media communication. Mr. …

Internet Telephony - The Regulatory Issues, Hank Intven, Mark Zohar, Jay Howard

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

The College Bowl Alliance And The Sherman Act, Lafcadio Darling

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Note examines the factual features of the college football Bowl Alliance and analyzes the antitrust issues that they raise. Ultimately, this Note discusses whether a court would find that the Bowl Alliance does indeed cross the line drawn by the Sherman Act.

Censorship In Chinese Cinema, Mary Lynne Calkins

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

With any film or play produced in China receiving close government scrutiny at each step of production, this article examines censorship in Chinese cinema in an attempt to make sense of a tradition of sometimes seemingly arbitrary decisions by the authorities. Film, as a particularly visible and communicative media, is particularly subject to governmental interference, and the Chinese government has exploited that vulnerability to the fullest. This article attempts to demonstrate that China takes a similar approach to film censorship as it does to contracts, in the sense that censorship involves continual "negotiations" rather than binding agreement, and in the …

Bibliography Of Recent Books In Communications Law, Patrick J. Petit

CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Technology Policy (1993-2015)

No abstract provided.

Regulation Of Music Videos: Should The Fcc "Beat It?", 8 Computer L.J. 287 (1988), Aloma H. Park

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

No abstract provided.

Interpreting The Communications Assistance For Law Enforcement Act Of 1994: The Justice Department Versus The Telecommunications Industry & (And) Privacy Rights Advocates, Hildegarde A. Senseney

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Note examines what began as a very common-sense idea: law enforcement's surveillance capabilities needed to be protected in the face of new, high technology communications devices that were making law enforcement's task much more difficult, if not impossible. This was the primary motivation behind the passage of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

As the compliance date fot the Act draws nearer, many issues are still open to fierce debate between the Federal Bureau Of Investigation, the telecommunications industry and privacy rights advocates. The telecommunications industry claims that the FBI is demanding capacity and technological standards …

Regulating Cyberspace: Metaphor, Rhetoric, Reality, And The Framing Of Legal Options, Clay Calvert

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Article argues that the "information superhighway" metaphor is a strategically chosen rhetorical device used to frame debate about Internet and telecommunications regulation, to implicitly suggest the particular legal choices are more viable-and valid-than others, and to guide the future of law in cyberspace. In particular, the metaphor embraces a commerce-based, marketplace model of regulation that emphasizes speed and quantity of information as a product or good rather than the content or quality of communication and its ability to sustain extant communities and cultures. Along the way, the Article traces the development of the "information superhighway" metaphor and explores some …

Coscarart V. Major League Baseball: No Field Of Dreams, Ronald P. Wargo

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note explores a less glamorous aspect of baseball's "golden" past: the sport's forgotten and financially neglected players. Due to the structure of Major League Baseball's retirement compensation system, a certain group of former players--some of whom were stars in their day--were entitled to no retirement benefits at all from the sports which they helped make great. Focusing on an action brought by one of these former players against Major League Baseball (MLB), the note explores both the statutory and common law right of publicity claims that these ex-players may have against MLB for the uncompensated exploitation of the players' …

Down In Front: Entertainment Facilities And Disabled Access Under The Americans With Disabilities Act, Katherine C. Carlson

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note deals with the problem of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in sports and entertainment venues. The beginning of the note briefly describes the scope of the ADA and the meaning of the provisions which are relevant to the problem of public entertainment facilities. It also discusses the remedies that the ADA offers in such accommodation situations. After this overview of the ADA's theoretical application, the note then looks at the ADA in actual practice and whether it has actually caused sports and entertainment facilities to adequately accommodate disabled patrons. An examination of some prominent cases …

A Proposal To Shore Up The Foundations Of Patent Law That The Underwater Line Eroded, A, Edwin H. Taylor, Glenn E. Von Tersch

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article examines the trend of modern patent jurisprudence in the United States, focusing on the development of the law since the landmark Federal Circuit decision of Underwater Devices Inc. v. Morrison Knudsen Co. Inc. in 1983. Specifically, the authors contend that Underwater and its progeny have skewed the proper interpretation and use of the rule against willful infringement, causing litigants to overuse (or even abuse) the willful infringement doctrine and, more importantly, inhibiting one of the twin goals of the patent laws, disclosure of useful inventions. To address this negative trend, the authors propose a change in the standard …

A Brief Return To The Digital Sampling Debate, Matthew G. Passmore

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note revisits the problem of digital sampling by musicians and the copyright law issues that arise from it. After briefly surveying the historical and technical aspects of digital sampling, the note asks the question: "are transformative digital samples art?" and answers in the affirmative. The note then looks at the goals and doctrine of copyright law, and how they are implicated by the digital sampling problem. Finally, the note advocates an expanded interpretation of the fair use copyright defense in digital sampling cases, arguing that such an expansion would both effectuate the goal of copyright enforcement and recognize the …