Communications Law Commons^™

Broadcast Technology As Diversity Opportunity: Exchanging Market Power For Multiplexed Signal Set- Asides, Michael M. Epstein

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article proposes an access system based on a theory of quid pro quo: a bargained.for-exchange in which broadcasters would trade media access for market power. Under this quid pro quo approach, the FCC would administer a scaled metric whereby the greater a media company's audience reach, the more access that company must provide to citizens with diverse and local content. Since digital technology permits broadcasters to "multiplex" their television signal bandwidth into multiple signal programming streams, an opportunity exists for the government to require public access to one or more of these programming streams in return for relaxing caps …

The Information Quality Act: The Little Statute That Could (Or Couldn't?) Applying The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments Of 1996 To The Federal Communications Commission, Kellen Ressmeyer

Federal Communications Law Journal

In December 2000, Congress passed the Information Quality Act - a two sentence rider to a 712-page Appropriations Bill. The Information Quality Act, which seeks to ensure the quality of government-disseminated information, places the White House Office of Management and Budget in a supervisory role. The Office of Management and Budget subsequently finalized a set of mandatory Guidelines applicable to all federal agencies. Among other things, the Guidelines require adherence to the scientific standard articulated in the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act where such agencies engage in risk analysis to human health, safety, and the environment. As …

Is A Giant Inflatable Rat An Unlawful Secondary Picket Under Section 8(B)(4)(Ii)(B) Of The National Labor Relations Act?, Tzvi Mackson-Landsberg

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

On The Effective Communication Of The Results Of Empirical Studies, Part Ii, Lee Epstein, Andrew D. Martin, Matthew M. Schneider

Vanderbilt Law Review

In an important and certainly timely article published in the N.Y. U. Law Review, Nancy C. Staudt demonstrates that, in taxpayer standing cases, judges are motivated by politics but can be constrained when the law is clear and oversight exists. As part of that demonstration, Professor Staudt offers an empirical analysis of the decision to grant standing to federal taxpayers-the results of which we reproduce in Table 1.2

What are we to make of this rather ominous-looking table? Professor Staudt suggests two key takeaways. First, the analysis, she reports, shows that doctrine helps explain standing decisions even when political factors …

Hit And Miss: Leverage, Sacrifice, And Refusal To Deal In The Supreme Court Decision In Trinko, Nicholas Economides

ExpressO

Under the rules of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, incumbent local exchange carriers, including Verizon, were obligated to lease parts of their local telecommunications network to any firm at “cost plus a reasonable profit” prices which could combine them at will, add retailing services and sell local telecommunication service as a rival to the incumbent. AT&T, an entrant in local telecommunications, leased parts of Verizon’s network. Trinko, a local telecommunications services customer of AT&T, sued Verizon alleging various anti-competitive actions of Verizon against AT&T, including that Verizon raised the costs of AT&T, its downstream retail rival. The Supreme Court held …

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Through The Looking Glass: Runaway Productions And "Hollywood Economics", Adrian H. Mcdonald

ExpressO

This paper uses the issue of runaway production as a looking glass into the complex world of Hollywood economics and politics. As such, a broad overview of Hollywood's business practices, history, and technology are discussed so the reader can understand how runaway production (a major issue itself) is one piece of the Hollywood puzzle. Specifically, this paper attempts to study runaway productions from the Law and Economics approach described in Judge Richard Posner's text on the subject. Events in 2006 illustrate the continuing importance of runaway productions and CEIDR's August 2006 report is discussed in this paper.

Recently expanded, this …

Keynote Address: Secret Evidence In The Age Of National Security, Adam Liptak

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article explores the tension between national security and the First Amendment, arguing that while the First Amendment remains a robust protection against government censorship, recent trends threaten press freedom, particularly in protecting confidential sources and accessing information. The author, drawing on personal experience as a media lawyer and reporter, emphasizes the importance of procedural safeguards and judicial oversight to prevent government overreach and ensure transparency.

Got Wheels?: Article 2a, Standardized Rental Car Terms, And Unilateral Private Ordering, Irma S. Russell

Faculty Works

This Article examines the modern system of unilateral private ordering facilitated by form contracts in the context of standard form contracts for renting a car. Modern law accepts the presumption of a free market and free bargain in the setting of form contracting despite the lack of bargaining power on the consumer side of the deal. The article assesses the importance of defaults and presumptions in contract law, and presents the results of an empirical review of standard agreement forms of ten leading rental car companies, noting examples of significant alterations to common law defaults. The article also explores the …

Fcc V. Wncn Listeners Guild: An Old-Fashioned Remedy For What Ails Current Judicial Review Law, Charles H. Koch Jr.

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Panel Report: Investigative Journalism And National Security, Zachary D. Streit

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The panel discussion explores the tension between government secrecy and media transparency, focusing on the challenges investigative journalists face in reporting on national security issues. The participants argue that while some secrecy is necessary for national security, excessive classification hampers transparency and accountability. They discuss legal battles, over-classification, and the need for a balance between protecting sensitive information and the public's right to know.

Aiding The Final Push Of The Digital Transition, Andrew L. Shapiro

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The note critically examines the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005, arguing that its approach to the analog-to-digital transition in the U.S. was flawed. The Act's reliance on market forces and lack of comprehensive provisions, particularly in consumer education and support, led to an incomplete transition that disproportionately affected vulnerable consumers. The analysis highlights the need for stronger government intervention to ensure a smoother and more equitable process.

The Slow Erosion Of The Adversary System: Article Iii Courts, Fisa, Cipa And Ethical Dilemmas, Ellen C. Yaroshefsky

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article examines the increasing reliance on secret evidence in U.S. legal proceedings, particularly in post-9/11 national security and terrorism cases, facilitated by the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This trend undermines the adversarial system by denying defendants access to relevant information, raising ethical concerns for defense attorneys, and potentially eroding constitutional rights. The author advocates for reforms to balance national security with civil liberties, emphasizing the need for judicial vigilance and legislative changes to address these issues.

Interpreting The Wiretap Act: Applying Ordinary Rules Of "Transit" To The Internet Context, Samantha L. Martin

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Preemption Or Bust: Fear And Loathing In The Battle Over Broadband, D. Stan O'Loughlin

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Beginning Of The End To A Tax-Free Internet: Developing An E-Commerce Clause, Pamela Swidler

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Network Neutrality Or Bias?--Handicapping The Odds For A Tiered And Branded Internet, Robert M. Frieden

ExpressO

Recent double digit billion dollar mergers of telecommunications firms consolidate both market share and market leadership by incumbent operators such as Verizon. These companies seek to exploit technological and market convergence by offering a triple play package of wired and wireless telephone service, video and Internet access. As well they need to develop new profit centers to compensate for declining revenues and market shares in traditional services such as wireline telephony.

While incumbent telecommunications operators have pursued new market opportunities, these ventures have not abandoned core management philosophies, operating assumptions and business strategies. Longstanding strategies for recovering investments, using a …

21st Century Pillow-Talk: Applicability Of The Marital Communications Privilege To Electronic Mail, Mikah K. Story

ExpressO

This article is the first to explore whether the marital communications privilege, which protects from disclosure private communications between spouses, should attach to communication sent via Web-based email. Traditionally, the privilege does not attach where a third party learns, either intentionally or inadvertently, the content of an otherwise private communication. In the world of Web-based email, disclosure to a third party is necessary in order for successful communication to occur. Writers of Web-based email draft a message and store it on a third-party Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) server until the recipient reads the message. Even after the email has been …

Information Privacy As A Function Of Facial Recognition Technology And Wearable Computers, Woodrow Barfield

ExpressO

As technological advances are made in the design of smart sensors, the issue of privacy in public places, first discussed by Warren and Brandeis in 1890, becomes an important topic for law and policy. This paper examines issues of privacy that are impacted when an individual’s image is recorded by a video-based wearable computer, analyzed using facial recognition software, and uploaded to the internet. While the Constitutional basis of search and seizure law for individual’s placed under video surveillance is reviewed, a particular focus of the paper is on a less investigated but emerging area of concern, the video recording …

Conversational Standing: A New Approach To An Old Privacy Problem, Christopher M. Drake

ExpressO

American society has long considered certain conversations private amongst the participants in those conversations. In other words, when two or more people are conversing in a variety of settings and through a variety of media, there are times when all parties to the conversation can reasonably expect freedom from improper government intrusion, whether through direct participation or secret monitoring. This shared expectation of privacy has been slow to gain judicial recognition. Courts have indicated that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution only protects certain elements of the conversation, such as where and how it takes place, but that …

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” …

What’S The Hang Up? The Future Of Voip Regulation And Taxation In New Hampshire, Kate Winstanley

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

Alice in Austria wishes to call her friend Bob in Boston, using a Boston area code to avoid charges for an international call. Using VoIP, Alice may initiate her call from any location in Austria where she may find Internet access. Once Alice connects to the Internet, she can transmit her call with the aid of a VoIP service provider, such as Skype. In order to hear and communicate with Bob, Alice can rely on a microphone and a headset that she can plug into her computer. Through VoIP, not only may Alice carry on a telephone conversation, but most …

Video Over Telephone Networks: The Case Against Regulation, Hal J. Singer, J Gregory Sidak, Robert W. Crandall

ExpressO

The current wave of telecommunications reform stands to significantly affect the provision of video over telephone networks. Current legislative initiatives are treating video services provided over telephone networks in essentially the same way as traditional cable video services. We examine whether, on legal or policy grounds, video services provided over a telephone network should be regulated as a cable service. We evaluate the history of cable regulation and the services that Congress envisioned to be regulated when it first drafted legislation establishing a regulatory framework for cable television services in 1984. We then examine numerous differences between video services delivered …

The Press As Interest Group: Mainstream Media In The United States Supreme Court, Eric B. Easton

ExpressO

This study explores the influence that news media organizations exert on the United States Supreme Court as parties and amici curiae. The study found, inter alia, that the media succeed more often than not, although by a relatively small margin, with far greater success in content-related than in newsgathering cases. Media organizations have been more successful as parties than as amici, and more successful against state and local government entities than against the federal government.

Necessary Knowledge For Communications Policy: Information Inequalities And Commercial Data Access And Usage In The Policymaking Process, Philip M. Napoli, Michelle Seaton

ExpressO

Communications policymaking increasingly relies upon large-scale databases manufactured and marketed by commercial organizations. Data providers such as BIA Research, Nielsen Media Research, and Arbitron play a vital role in aggregating the data that policymakers, policy analysts, and policy advocates rely upon in policy deliberations. In many ways, these data providers supplement the limited data gathering capacity of government bodies such as the FCC and NTIA and thereby help to bring a greater quantity of relevant data to bear on policy issues than would otherwise be possible. Indeed, these data are utilized extensively by stakeholders with an interest in policy outcomes …

Beyond Broadcasting: The Constitutionality Of Indecency Regulation On Cable And Direct Broadcast Satellite Services, Matthew S. Schwartz

ExpressO

This paper argues that if the federal government is serious about its stated goals of protecting children and the sanctity of the home, then the Federal Communications Commission should expand indecency regulations to cable and satellite services. The current enforcement system – fining the handful of free broadcasters hundreds of thousands of dollars for each instance of indecency they air, while completely ignoring the much more extreme indecency commonplace on cable and satellite – is arbitrary and nonsensical. After discussing the relevant laws and precedent, the paper analyzes the regulatory history of broadcast, cable and satellite over the past few …

Media Influence And The Modern American Democracy: Why The First Amendment Compels Regulation Of Media Ownership, Sean Michael Mcguire

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article argues that the First Amendment necessitates government regulation of media ownership to safeguard democracy. It posits that while the First Amendment initially protected against government interference, evolving societal and technological changes require active regulation to ensure a diverse "marketplace of ideas." The author contends that without such regulation, media consolidation leads to a decline in viewpoint diversity, diminished content quality, and undue corporate influence, undermining democratic discourse.

Concurring In Part & Concurring In The Confusion, Sonja R. West

Scholarly Works

When a federal appellate court decided last year that two reporters must either reveal their confidential sources to a grand jury or face jail time, the court did not hesitate in relying on the majority opinion in the Supreme Court's sole comment on the reporter's privilege--Branzburg v. Hayes. "The Highest Court has spoken and never revisited the question. Without doubt, that is the end of the matter," Judge Sentelle wrote for the three-judge panel on the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. By this declaration, the court dismissed with a wave of its judicial hand the arguments …

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Access To Audiences As A First Amendment Right: Its Relevance And Implications For Electronic Media Policy, Philip M. Napoli, Sheea T. Sybblis

ExpressO

When the issue of speakers’ rights of access arises in media regulation and policy contexts, the focus typically is on the concept of speakers’ rights of access “to the media,” or “to the press.” This right usually is premised on the audience’s need for access to diverse sources and content. In contrast, in many non-mediated contexts, the concept of speakers’ rights of access frequently is defined in terms of the speaker’s own First Amendment right of access to audiences. This paper explores the important distinctions between these differing interpretations of a speaker’s access rights and argues that the concept of …