Communications Law Commons^™

The Implications Of Section 230 For Black Communities, Spencer Overton, Catherine Powell

William & Mary Law Review

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act generally immunizes online platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, and Uber from liability for third-party user content (for example, posts, comments, and videos) and for moderation of that content. This Article addresses an important issue overlooked by both defenders and critics of Section 230: the implications of the law and proposed reforms for Black communities in particular. By relieving tech platforms of most legal liability for third-party content, Section 230 helps facilitate Black social activism, entrepreneurship, and artistic creativity. Section 230 also relieves platforms of most legal liability for content moderation, which boosts …

The U.S. Supreme Court’S Characterizations Of The Press: An Empirical Study, Ronnell Anderson Jones, Sonja R. West

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

The erosion of constitutional norms in the United States is at the center of an urgent national debate. Among the most crucial of these issues is the fragile and deteriorating relationship between the press and the government. While scholars have responded with sophisticated examinations of legislators’ and the President’s characterizations of the news media, one branch of government has received little scrutiny—the U.S. Supreme Court. This gap in the scholarship is remarkable in light of the Court’s role as the very institution entrusted with safeguarding the rights of the press. This paper presents the findings of the first comprehensive empirical …

Promoting Journalism As Method, Erin C. Carroll

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The marketplace of ideas has been a centerpiece of free speech jurisprudence for a century. According to the marketplace theory, the vigorous competition of ideas, free from government interference, is the surest path to truth. As our metaphorical marketplace has moved online, the competition has never been so heated. We should be drowning in truth. Yet, in reality, truth has perhaps never been more elusive.

As we struggle to promote democratic debate and surface truth in our chaotic networked public sphere, we are understandably drawn to familiar frames and tools. These include the source of the marketplace of ideas theory—the …

Curtailing Online Service Provider Immunity From Liability: An Advocacy For The Entension Of Roommates.Com, Corey Patton

Seattle University Law Review

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) was enacted following the controversial decision in Stratton Oakmont, Inc. v. Prodigy Servs. Co., where an interactive computer service provider was held liable for a libelous message posted by a user on one of its financial message boards. The court determined that the service provider was a “publisher” of the libelous message for the purposes of state law because it had engaged in screening and moderating of other objectionable posts on its message boards but failed to remove the libelous message in question. Because the service provider voluntarily self-policed some of the …

Radio Kol Baramah V. Kolech – Religious Women’S Forum, Yoram Danziger, Daphne Barak-Erez, Esther Hayut

Translated Opinions

The District Court certified the application of Kolech – Religious Women’s Forum Organization (hereinafter: Kolech) to bring a class action against the radio station Kol BaRamah Ltd. (hereinafter: the radio station), holding that the declared policy adopted by the radio station in the years 2009-2011, whereby women could not be heard on the station’s broadcasts, constituted prohibited discrimination under the Prohibition against Discrimination in Products, Services and Entry to Places of Entertainment and Public Places Law, 5761-2000 (hereinafter: Prohibition against Discrimination Law). (It should be noted that the change in the management of the radio station as of the year …

Newsroom: Fcc's Sohn On Consumer Protection, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Cookie Monster: Balancing Internet Privacy With Commerce, Technology And Terrorism, Nichoel Forrett

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Aereo: Cutting The Cord Or Splitting The Circuit?, Julie Borna

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

No abstract provided.

Acum V. Emi, Daphne Barak-Erez, Zvi Zylbertal, Elyakim Rubinstein

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.]

In 2004 the Director-General of the Antitrust Authority determined that the activity of ACUM (a corporation that operates to manage its members’ copyrights in musical works in Israel) constitutes a monopoly on managing copyright over musical works. In 2011 the Antitrust Tribunal (“the Tribunal”) approved the activity of ACUM as a cartel, subject to a series of requirements (“the permanent requirements”), which would be …

Gottesman V. Vardi, Uzi Vogelman, Salim Joubran, Noam Sohlberg

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.]

The Second Appellant (hereinafter referred to as "Gottesman") is an architect who designed a unique dwelling (hereinafter referred to as "the house") for the Respondent (hereinafter referred to as "Vardi"). Gottesman asked to photograph the house in order to showcase it on his firm's website. Vardi refused. In addition, Gottesman published computer simulations of Vardi's house on the website without giving details that would …

State V. Makor Rishon Hameuhad (Hatzofe) Ltd., Elyakim Rubinstein, Isaac Amit, Uzi Vogelman

Translated Opinions

Facts:  A violent demonstration took place at the Ephraim District Brigade Headquarters on the night of 12/13 December 2011. A photographer, who had been invited by one of the participants, was present taking photographs. The police sought an order, pursuant to section 43 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, requiring the photographer and her newspaper to produce the photographs. The photographer and newspaper refused, arguing that the photographs would provide information that could identify the photographer’s source, and were thus protected by the journalist’s privilege. The magistrate court applied the Citrin test and rejected the privilege claim. The district court distinguished …

Telecommunications: Communications Law Reform, Jonathan Baker, Robert Mcdowell, Ajit Pai, Daniel Crane, Maureen Ohlhausen, Jennifer Elrod

Presentations

The transcript was published on 2013 Journal of Law, Technology & Policy University of Illinois Issue 1.

Applying Crawford's Confrontation Right In A Digital Age, Jeffrey Bellin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Association For Civil Rights In Israel V. Israel Police, Dorit Beinisch, Asher Grunis, Miriam Naor, Esther Hayut, Hanan Melcer, Eliezer Rivlin, Edna Arbel

Translated Opinions

This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.]

Petitions concerning the constitutionality of some of the arrangements prescribed in the scope of the Criminal Procedure Act (Powers of Enforcement – Communications Data), 5768-2007, which came into effect on June 27, 2008 (hereinafter referred to as “the Communications Data Act” or “the Act”) and enables the Israeli investigatory authorities to obtain communications data from all the communications companies – the various cellular or …

The Year In Economics At The Fcc: A National Plan For Broadband, Jonathan Baker, Paul De Sa

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The past year in economics at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has focused on encouraging the adoption and deployment of high capacity Internet access and the associated networks, commonly termed “broadband.” Our article sketches important economic themes in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan to show how the application of basic principles of regulatory economics takes account of rapid technological change. We discuss natural monopoly regulation, externalities and cross-subsidies, network effects and interconnection, the allocation of scarce inputs, protecting and fostering competitive markets, and consumer protection and transparency as they apply to the development of broadband.

Eurocom Dbs V. Bezeq, Esther Hayut, Eliezer Rivlin, Elyakim Rubinstein

Translated Opinions

Facts: Bezeq, the Israel Telecommunications Corporation Ltd., held 49.78% of the shares of “Yes” D.B.S. Satellite Services (1998) Ltd. Another 32.6% of the Yes shares are held by Eurocom D.B.S Ltd. Yes is one of only two providers in the multi-channel television broadcast infrastructure market and in the multi-channel television broadcasting market. The other multi-channel television provider in the market is “Hot”. Bezeq is a public company licensed to provide internal fixed line services, including fixed line telephony and Internet infrastructure. Bezeq also provides the public with a wide variety of communications services through its subsidiary and affiliated companies, …

Toward A Broadband Public Interest Standard, Anthony E. Varona

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Although they emerged seven decades apart, commercial broadcasting and the Internet were greeted with similar excited declarations of their potential to transform American democracy by hosting an electronic free marketplace of ideas that would inform and enlighten citizens and catalyze discussion on issues of public importance. The federal government played a central role in the initial development and proliferation of both technologies, but then assumed very different regulatory orientations to the two industries once they were commercialized. In broadcasting, the government took on an interventionist posture promoting civic republican First Amendment values by means of a variety of public interest …

Unwarranted Fears Mask The Benefits Of Network Diversity: An Argument Against Mandating Network Neutrality, Elvis Stumbergs

ExpressO

The rapid development of the Internet has necessitated an update to Federal telecommunications laws. Recent Congressional efforts to enact such an update, however, have spawned a fiery debate over a somewhat nebulous concept: network neutrality. The debate concerns the way that Internet access providers handle the data traffic being sent over their networks. These providers would like the option to offer some of their customers, web site hosting companies and similar entities, additional services that would essentially result in these customers’ content loading faster, more reliably, or more securely than others not receiving such priority treatment. Yet, this proposed “diversity” …

Lessons From The Nextwave Saga: The Federal Communications Commission, The Courts, And The Use Of Market Forms To Perform Public Functions, Rodger D. Citron, John A. Rogovin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Shin, Israeli Movement For Equal Representation Of Women V. Council For Cable Tv And Satellite Broadcasting, Dalia Dorner, Theodor Or, Eliahu Mazza, Ayala Procaccia, Edmond E. Levy, Asher Grunis, Mishael Cheshin, Jacob Turkel, Dorit Beinisch, Eliezer Rivlin, Aharon Barak

Translated Opinions

Facts: The third respondent held a concession for broadcasting the ‘Playboy’ channel in Israel. This channel shows material of an erotic or pornographic nature. The first respondent gave a licence to respondents 4-7 to broadcast the ‘Playboy’ channel, subject to a number of restrictions relating, inter alia, to the times when the broadcasts were permitted, the manner of subscribing to the channel, and measures that needed to be taken to ensure that the channel was not accessible to persons under the age of 18. The petitioners challenged the decision of the first respondent, on the grounds that the first …

Association For Civil Rights In Israel V. Chairman Of The Central Elections Committee For The Sixteenth Knesset, Ayala Procaccia, Izhak Englard, Tova Strasberg-Cohen

Translated Opinions

Facts: During elections for the sixteenth Knesset, Respondent no. 1 disqualified portions of the election propaganda broadcasts of respondents nos. 2 and 3. These portions were disqualified by the Chairman because they included pictures of the Palestinian flag. Petitioner asserted that this disqualification of the portions constituted an infringement of the freedom of speech of respondents nos. 2 and 3, and an infringement of the voters' right to view political messages uncensored. The Attorney-General, as an amicus curae, asserted that petitioner did not have standing to bring his petition, as the injured respondents could have brought the petitions themselves.

Held: …

Herut--The National Jewish Movement V. Cheshin, Eliahu Mazza, Tova Strasberg-Cohen, Aharon Barak

Translated Opinions

Facts: Petitioner attacked the decision of the respondent to disqualify an election commercial it had prepared for broadcast over both radio and television. The jingle included praise for Yasir Arafat and a call for the expulsion of Jews from Jaffa and Ramle. In addition, the television version of the commercial depicted an Israeli flag, flying over the Knesset, as it changed into a Palestinian flag. The Chairman of the Elections Committee disqualified this commercial, reasoning that the jingle caused severe injury to the dignity of the flag and the national anthem. In the context of the petition, respondent also asserted …

Gur Aryeh V. Second Television And Radio Authority, Aharon Barak, Shlomo Levin, Dalia Dorner

Translated Opinions

Facts: Petitioners are the subject of a film made by or for the respondents.  The film was designated for broadcast on television on Shabbat.  When the petitioners discovered the film was going to be broadcast on Shabbat they approached the Second Television and Radio Authority, and asked that the film not be broadcast on Shabbat stating that broadcast of the film on Shabbat would harm their religious feelings and violate their religious freedom.  The request was denied by the Second Television and Radio Authority, which was willing to add captions on the screen which would state that the film was …

Szenes V. Broadcasting Authority, Aharon Barak, Eliahu Mazza, Mishael Cheshin

Translated Opinions

Facts: Chana Szenes, born in Budapest, Hungary in 1921, emigrated to Mandatory Palestine alone at the age of 18. In 1943, during World War II, she enlisted in the British army. In June 1944, Chana Szenes parachuted in Yugoslavia, and crossed the border into Hungary with the aid of partisan groups. The German army captured her almost immediately. Chana Szenes was executed by a German firing squad on November 8, 1944. The current petition concerns the play “The Kastner Trial,” written by respondent no. four. The play, based on the true story of the Kastner affair, was intended to be …

Antitrust And Communications: Changes After The Telecommunications Act Of 1996, Douglas B. Mcfadden

Federal Communications Law Journal

The 1996 Telecommunications Act is a return to competition in telephony which existed at the beginning of the century. The enactment of the '96 Act will significantly change the application of the antitrust laws to communications activities. Prior to the enactment of the '96 Act, telecommunications companies were somewhat immunized from full application of the antitrust laws regarding mergers and acquisitions because of regulation by the Federal Communications Commission and the state public utility commissions. Now, telephone companies will be fully subject to antitrust scrutiny under three schemes: the Clayton Act, the Hart-Scott- Rodino Act, and the FCC public interest …

Changes That Challenge The Soul, Herbert A. Terry

Federal Communications Law Journal

Symposium: The Transformation of Television News

Communications Policy Making, Competition, And The Public Interest: The New Dialogue, Fred H. Cate

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Shnitzer V. Chief Military Censor, Aharon Barak, Yaakov Melitz, Shulamit Wallenstein

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.] 

This petition concerns the decision by the First Respondent to prohibit, under its authority according to Regulation 87(1) of the Defense Regulations (State of Emergency) 1945, the publication of a newspaper article criticizing the functioning of the Director of the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (the “Mossad”,) while noting the upcoming change in Mossad directors. After submitting to the First Respondent different versions …

Misrepresentation And The Fcc, Brian C. Murchison

Scholarly Articles

None available.

The Deregulation Of Commercial Television, Heidi R. Young

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In August 1984, the Federal Communications Commission released the Report and Order in the Matter of the Revision of Programming and Commercialization Policies, Ascertainment Requirements, and Program Log Requirements for Commercial Television Stations, affecting the FCC regulations concerning programming policies, ascertainment requirements, program logging rules and commercialization policies. This Note analyzes these regulatory changes from this Report and Order according the following structure: first, a historical exposition of radio and television regulation in general and of the areas affected by the deregulation in particular; second, an assessment of the changes in the context of the modern television marketplace; and third, …