Communications Law Commons^™

Zoning Exemptions: Granting Immunity To Private Wireless Providers, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Contrary to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the New York Court of Appeals in the Matter of Crown Communication New York, Inc. v. Department of Transportation of the State of New York, City of New Rochelle et al., held that, both private companies who contract with local governments to build towers on public land, and the private companies who build attached antennae to these towers, are immune from local zoning regulations. The court’s decision is due to the public nature and importance of the mass communication these structures will provide. Of particular importance, was public good to be served by …

The Opacity Of Transparency, Mark Fenster

ExpressO

The normative concept of transparency, along with the open government laws that purport to create a transparent public system of governance promise the world—a democratic and accountable state above all, and a peaceful, prosperous, and efficient one as well. But transparency, in its role as the theoretical justification for a set of legal commands, frustrates all parties affected by its ambiguities and abstractions. The public’s engagement with transparency in practice yields denials of reasonable requests for essential government information, as well as government meetings that occur behind closed doors. Meanwhile, state officials bemoan the significantly impaired decision-making processes that result …

Communication Breakdown?: The Future Of Global Connectivity After The Privatization Of Intelsat, Kenneth D. Katkin

ExpressO

In 1971, 85 nations (including the United States) formed the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization “INTELSAT,” a public intergovernmental treaty organization. INTELSAT was charged with operating the world’s first global telecommunications satellite system, in order to guarantee the interconnectedness of the world’s communications systems and the availability of international telecommunications service to every nation on earth. By the late 1980s, however, INTELSAT’s operations began to experience substantial competition from the private sector. In 2000, the proliferation of privately-owned telecommunications satellites and transoceanic fiber optic cables led the U.S. Congress to mandate the privatization of INTELSAT. That privatization process began in 2001, …

The 2005 Communications Act Of Unintended Consequences, Daniel Brenner

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Innovation Policy In Telecommunications: Revisiting The Successes Of Guglielmo Marconi, John M. Williamson

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Signor Marconi's Magic Box: The Most Remarkable Invention of the 19th Century & the Amateur Inventor Whose Genius Sparked a Revolution, Gavin Weightman, Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2003, 312 pages.

A review of Gavin Weightman's Signor Marconi's Magic Box, Da Capo Press, 2003. An entertaining and informative biography of the inventor of applied wireless communications, this book also gives practical insight into the effect of patent policy on innovation. The Marconi story parallels the challenges faced by today's telecommunications innovators and offers a significant historical perspective relevant to present-day debates over the direction of innovation policy and …

The Contrasting Policies Of The Fcc And Ferc Regarding The Importance Of Open Transmission Networks In Downstream Competitive Markets, Harvey Reiter

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") and the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") have undergone a remarkable role reversal. After years of resistance to the very notion of competition in the electric and gas industries, FERC has, with considerable vigor and consistency spanning nearly two decades, promoted policies to open access both to gas pipeline and high voltage electric transmission networks to downstream competitors of the network owners. FERC has stated plainly and repeatedly that the underpinning of these policies is that open access is essential to the protection of competition in the sale of the largely deregulated services reliant upon …

Convergence And Competition-At Last, Antoinette Cook Bush, John Beahn, Mick Tuesley

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Jennifer L. Monberg

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Four More Years... Of The Status Quo? How Simple Principles Can Lead Us Out Of The Regulatory Wilderness, Adam Thierer

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Broadcast Flag: It's Not Just Tv, Wendy Seltzer

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Time For Change On Media Cross-Ownership Regulation, John F. Sturm

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In Program Content Regulation, Richard E. Wiley, Lawrence W. Secrest

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

My Beef With Big Media: How Government Protects Big Media-And Shuts Out Upstarts Like Me., Ted Turner

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Masthead Vol.57 No.2 (2005)

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Communications Policy For The Next Four Years, Conrad Burns

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Universal Service: Problems, Solutions, And Responsive Policies, Allen S. Hammond Iv

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Broadcast Flags And The War Against Digital Television Piracy: A Solution Or Dilemma For The Digital Era?, Debra Kaplan

Federal Communications Law Journal

With the advent of digital TV, many homes in the U.S. are now on the cutting edge of what is likely to be a sea change in how this country watches TV. While these homes can now begin to enjoy the numerous benefits of the technology, regulators and industry experts are working to craft responses to problems, both actual and anticipated, that the technology creates. Mindful of the piracy issues that came with the popularity of digital file formats in the music industry, the FCC addressed piracy in the digital TV context by endorsing the use of "broadcast flags" on …

Transcript Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction, National Security, And A Free Press: Seminal Issues As Viewed Through The Lens Of The Progressive Case, David Rudenstine

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Universal Service: Problems, Solutions, And Responsive Policies, Allen S. Hammond Iv

Faculty Publications

Affordable access to telecommunications networks is extremely important to all Americans. The federal universal service policy is critical to ensuring affordable access for low income Americans and those living in rural and high cost areas, and on tribal lands. Consequently the nation’s commitment to preserving universal service has been longstanding and continues to this day.

While reform of the telecommunications universal service policy is clearly warranted, ignoring the impact of IP-enabled intermodal competition is counterproductive. In an era of IP-enabled convergence, ultimately, proposals and policies that solely focus on one technology platform will be less successful. Too often they will …

No Secret, No Defense: United States V. Progressive, Ian M. Dumain

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Preemption Of State Spam Laws By The Federal Can-Spam Act, Roger Allen Ford

Law Faculty Scholarship

Unsolicited bulk commercial email is an increasing problem, and though many states have passed laws aimed at curbing its use and abuse, for several years the federal government took no action. In 2003 that changed when Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act. Though the law contains many different restrictions on spam messages, including some restriction of nearly every type that states had adopted, the Act was widely criticized as weak. Many of the CAN-SPAM Act's provisions are weaker than corresponding provisions of state law, and the Act preempts most state spam laws that would go farther, including two state laws that …

Voice Over Internet Protocol: Ending Uncertainty And Promoting Innovation Through A Regulatory Framework, R. Alex Dufour

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

No abstract provided.

Speaking With One Broadband Voice: The Case For A Unified Circuit Appeals Process After Brand X Internet Services V. Fcc, J. Israel Balderas

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

No abstract provided.

An Earthy Enigma: The Role Of Localism In The Political, Cultural And Economic Dimensions Of Media Ownership Regulation, Paul Cowling

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article examines the Federal Communications Commission's public interest principle of localism and its role in media ownership regulation, particularly the National Television Station Ownership rule. The article explains the enigmatic concept of localism by approaching it from several angles, including other regulatory spheres, such as banking and antitrust; Canadian nationalism; historical broadcast regulation; federalism; and contemporary debates on media ownership. While * explaining what localism means, the article identifies the territorial impulse behind media ownership regulation and its link with territorial reference points in the self-determination of national and local communities. In doing so, the article constructs a simple …

Into The Grey: The Unclear Laws Of Digital Sampling, Bryan Bergman

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

When Congress enacted the 1976 Copyright Act, the musical engineering process of digital sampling was not a common practice, nor explicitly contemplated by the Act. Over the last few decades sampling has become a very common practice. Early court decisions regarding sampling, viewed the practice as stealing; however, these decisions failed to take into account the positive transformative possibilities that sampling provides. Recently, DJ Dangermouse came out with an album entitled The Grey Album that mixed vocal content from the rap artist Jay-Z's The Black Album and musical content from the Beatles' White Album. However, Dangermouse never asked permission for …

The War Against The Illegal Antiquities Trade: Rules Of Engagement For Source Nations, Jason Mcelroy

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article addresses the problems of retrieving stolen cultural property in a practical manner. Instead of proposing new legislation or changes in the current cultural property regime, this article argues that countries that are source nations for the growing illegal trade in antiquities should better prepare themselves for their retrieval attempts, which in turn gives them a better chance at retrieving them through civil cases. By focusing on settlements and cases won in the United States, the paper submits guidelines by which source nations can be best equipped to prevail in a United States civil suit of replevin.

Internet Voting With Initiatives And Referendums: Stumbling Towards Direct Democracy, Rebekah K. Browder

Seattle University Law Review

Imagine that it is Tuesday, November 4, 2008, and you realize that you have not yet voted for the candidate that you want to be President of the United States. The polls close at 7 p.m., and it is already 6:45 p.m. Instead of rushing off to the nearest polling place, you simply go to your computer, log in, fill out a ballot, and email your ballot to your designated polling website. The whole process takes fewer than ten minutes, and you have done your civic duty. Leading proponents of Internet voting point to five possible benefits of electronic voting: …

Campaign Finance Reform, Electioneering Communications, And The First Amendment: Resuscitating The Third Exception, 38 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1315 (2005), Daniel B. Roth

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Words Signifying Nothing - The Evolution Of 315(A) In An Age Of Deregulation And Its Effect On Television News Coverage Of Presidential Elections, Colin Vandell

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Focusing on private networks' television news coverage of presidential campaigns, this Note addresses the enactment and rise of Section 315(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (the equal time rule) and the fairness doctrine that it officially operated in conjunction with for forty years. The Note then turns to the deregulation trend that abolished the fairness doctrine and took much of the bite out of Section 315(a). The Note concludes by examining the rise of ideology-driven and also of marketdriven political coverage that a laxly-enforced Section 315(a) has allowed.

No Animals Were Harmed...: Protecting Chimpanzees From Cruelty Behind The Curtain, Lorraine L. Fischer

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Many people, interested in the way animals are treated in the entertainment industry, rely on the American Humane Association's end credit disclaimer, "No Animals Were Harmed During the Making of this Production" to quiet their concerns about animal mistreatment and to avoid supporting films or television programs that injure animals. However, the AHA's end credit disclaimer is misleading because it suggests that projects with the disclaimer are cruelty free. Even if a film or television show receives the "No Animals Were Harmed..." designation, chimpanzees cannot become "actors" and appear on the stage or screen without being subject to severe physical …