Telecommunications Law And Policy

by Benjamin, Stuart Minor; Lichtman, Douglas Gary; Shelanski, Howard A.; Weiser, Philip J.

• ISBN13: 9781594601392
• ISBN10: 1594601399
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-07-01
• Publisher: Carolina Academic Pr

Summary

This book engages in advanced analysis of the key constitutional, administrative, and economic issues that arise in the various telecommunications settings. The new edition will continue the tradition of the first by offering a comprehensive yet lively and accessible introduction to the various regulatory regimes applicable to broadcast radio, broadcast television, cable television, all forms of telephony, and the Internet. The second edition will contain discussions and journal excerpts in addition to excerpts from important legal materials - the cases and FCC documents that define regulatory policy today - designed to help readers understand the technologies, economic principles, and business strategies that undergird the modern telecommunications market. The authors have streamlined much of the older material, resulting in a more compact casebook that will focus the bulk of its materials on current controversies and modern regulatory strategies. Summaries and previews at the start of each set of readings still help students know what to read for and questions at the end of each set still encourage students to think critically about those materials.

Table of Contents

Table of Materials	xv
Copyright Permissions	xix
Preface	xxi
Part One. Spectrum and Broadcast	3	(432)
Why Regulate	5	(46)
Introduction	5	(1)
Defining Spectrum	6	(9)
The Early History of Broadcast	15	(15)
Rationales for Regulation	30	(21)
Scarcity/Interference	31	(3)
Coase, Why Not Use the Pricing System in the Broadcast Industry?	34	(4)
Special Interest Protectionism	38	(1)
Hazlett, The Rationality of U.S. Regulation of the Broadcast Spectrum	38	(8)
Consumer Preferences	46	(5)
The FCC	51	(16)
Introduction	51	(1)
A Regulatory Overview	51	(6)
The Federal Communications Commission	57	(5)
An Overview of Spectrum Management	62	(2)
Regulatory Tradeoffs and Allotment	64	(3)
Zoning the Spectrum	67	(46)
Introduction	67	(1)
Command and Control	68	(15)
Making Room for PCS	69	(1)
Redevelopment of Spectrum to Encourage Innovation in the Use of New Technologies	69	(8)
Authorizing Satellite Radio	77	(1)
Establishment of Rules and Policies for the Digital Audio Radio Satellite Service Band	77	(6)
Dedicating Spectrum to Unlicensed Uses	83	(18)
The Spectrum Policy Task Force Report	83	(1)
Spectrum Policy Task Force Report	84	(9)
Academic Commentary	93	(1)
Benkler, Some Economics of Wireless Communications	93	(8)
Alternative Approaches	101	(12)
Authorizing Additional Licensed Uses	101	(2)
Unlicensed Secondary Services	103	(2)
Spectrum Leasing and Private Commons	105	(2)
Promoting Efficient Use of Spectrum Through Elimination of Barriers to the Development of Secondary Markets	107	(6)
Structuring and Assigning Licenses	113	(84)
Introduction	113	(1)
License Renewal and Transfer	114	(12)
License Renewal	114	(5)
License Transfer	119	(2)
Changes in the Entertainment Formats of Broadcast Stations	121	(3)
FCC v. WNCN Listeners Guild	124	(2)
Merit-Based Hearings	126	(38)
Uncontested Initial Assignment Hearings	127	(1)
H.E. Studebaker	127	(1)
Charles Henry Gunthorpe, Jr.	128	(2)
Comparative Initial Assignment Hearings	130	(2)
FCC Policy Statement on Comparative Broadcast Hearings	132	(4)
Licensing Case Study	136	(1)
Application of Simon Geller	136	(6)
Special Considerations for Racial Minorities and Women	142	(1)
Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC	143	(14)
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod v. FCC	157	(7)
Transition to Lotteries, Auctions	164	(33)
Reform of the Licensing Process	165	(1)
Prevention of Abuses of the Renewal Process	165	(4)
Lotteries and Auctions	169	(1)
Kwerel and Felker, Using Auctions to Select FCC Licenses	170	(7)
Initial Assignment by Auction	177	(1)
Implementation of Section 309(J) of the Communications Act---Competitive Bidding for Commercial Broadcast Licenses	178	(8)
Bankruptcy and the Limits of FCC Authority	186	(2)
Nextwave Personal Communications v. FCC	188	(9)
Public Trustee Obligations	197	(150)
Introduction	197	(1)
The Fairness Doctrine and Related Obligations	198	(56)
The Fairness Doctrine	198	(1)
Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo	198	(2)
Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC	200	(8)
Fairness Doctrine Report	208	(9)
Complaint of Syracuse Peace Council	217	(7)
The Personal Attack and Political Editorial Rules	224	(3)
Political Broadcasting	227	(1)
Request of ABC, Inc. for Declaratory Ruling	228	(9)
Request for Declaratory Ruling of National Association of Broadcasters Regarding Section 312(A)(7) of the Communications Act	237	(3)
Petition for Reconsideration by People for the American Way and Media Access Project of Declaratory Ruling Regarding Section 312(A)(7) of the Communications Act	240	(7)
The Scarcity Rationale in Other Media	247	(1)
Time Warner Entertainment Co. v. FCC (1996)	248	(2)
Time Warner Entertainment Co. v. FCC (1997)	250	(4)
Indecent Broadcasts	254	(46)
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation	254	(12)
Action for Children's Television v. FCC [ACT III]	266	(20)
Complaints Against Various Broadcast Licensees Regarding Their Airing of the ``Golden Globe Awards'' Program	286	(3)
Complaints Against Various Television Licensees Regarding Their Broadcast on November 11, 2004 of the ABC Television Network's Presentation of the Film ``Saving Private Ryan''	289	(5)
Complaints Regarding Various Television Broadcasts Between February 2, 2002 and March 8, 2005	294	(6)
Televised Violence and Blocking Unwanted Material	300	(6)
Children's Television	306	(29)
Children's Television Programming and Advertising Practices	307	(6)
Policies & Rules Concerning Children's Television Programming (1991)	313	(3)
Policies & Rules Concerning Children's Television Programming (1996)	316	(19)
Commercialization, Ascertainment, and Other Rules	335	(12)
Deregulation of Commercial Television, Report and Order	336	(11)
Digital Television	347	(42)
Introduction	347	(1)
Making Room for HDTV	348	(7)
Advanced Television Systems (1991)	349	(6)
Choosing A Standard	355	(12)
Advanced Television Systems (1996)	356	(11)
Rules For DTV Spectrum	367	(11)
Advanced Television Systems (1997)	367	(11)
Hastening the Transition	378	(3)
Public Interest Obligations	381	(8)
Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters	381	(8)
Structural Limitations	389	(46)
Introduction	389	(1)
Television Networks and Vertical Integration	389	(14)
Schurz Communications v. FCC	392	(11)
Ownership Restrictions	403	(32)
Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC	408	(27)
Part Two. The Emerging Video Marketplace	435	(258)
Foundations	437	(48)
Introduction	437	(1)
The MVPD Competitive Landscape	438	(2)
Paying for Television	440	(4)
Coase, Why Not Use the Pricing System in the Broadcast Industry?	442	(2)
Why Regulate: Natural Monopoly	444	(6)
Why Regulate: Implications for Broadcast	450	(22)
Besen and Crandall, The Deregulation of Cable Television	451	(12)
Home Box Office (HBO) v. FCC	463	(9)
Who Regulates Cable Television	472	(13)
Time Warner Entertainment Co. v. FCC	476	(9)
Shared Content	485	(84)
Introduction	485	(1)
Programs in Isolation	485	(26)
Copyright Law	485	(4)
Syndicated Exclusivity and Network Nonduplication	489	(1)
United Video v. FCC	490	(7)
Direct Broadcast Satellite	497	(1)
CBS Broadcasting v. Primetime 24	498	(7)
The Satellite Television Act of 1999	505	(6)
Programs Grouped into Signals	511	(58)
First Amendment Challenges to Cable Must-Carry	514	(1)
Turner Broadcasting System Inc. v. FCC [Turner I]	514	(17)
Turner Broadcasting System Inc. v. FCC [Turner II]	531	(17)
First Amendment Challenges to DBS Must-Carry	548	(1)
Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Ass'n v. FCC	549	(12)
Must-Carry and the Digital Transition	561	(1)
Carriage of Digital Television Broadcast Signals, Second Report and Order	561	(8)
Structural Limitations	569	(44)
Introduction	569	(1)
Protecting Program Suppliers	570	(15)
Time Warner Entertainment Inc. v. FCC	571	(14)
Regulation of Program Supply Contracts	585	(28)
The Program Access Rules	585	(1)
Development of Competition and Diversity in Video Programming Distribution and Carriage, First Report and Order	585	(15)
Extension of the Program Access Rules	600	(1)
Implementation of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, Report and Order	600	(4)
Extension of the Program Access Rules to DirecTV	604	(1)
General Motors Corp. and Hughes Electronic Corp., Transferors, and News Corp. Ltd., Transferee	604	(9)
Emerging Issues in the Video Marketplace	613	(42)
Introduction	613	(1)
Choice	614	(25)
Is More Always Good?	614	(1)
Sunstein, The First Amendment in Cyberspace	614	(7)
Posner, Bad News	621	(9)
The Commission on Cable a la Carte	630	(1)
Further Report on the Packaging and Sale of Video Programming Services to the Public	631	(6)
Price Discrimination	637	(2)
Digital Copyright	639	(16)
American Library Association v. FCC	643	(12)
Indecency Revisited	655	(38)
Introduction	655	(1)
Cruz v. Ferre	655	(3)
Cruz v. Ferre	655	(3)
Denver Area	658	(20)
Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. FCC	658	(20)
United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc.	678	(15)
United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc.	678	(15)
Part Three. Telephone Regulation	693	(210)
An Introduction to Telephone Regulation	695	(18)
Introduction	695	(1)
Telephone History	695	(8)
Infrastructure and Intuitions	703	(4)
Telephone System Vocabulary	703	(1)
Telephone Economics	704	(3)
Telephone Regulation	707	(6)
Categories of Regulation	708	(1)
Who Regulates	708	(5)
Defining the Telephone Monopoly	713	(34)
Introduction	713	(1)
Precursors to Divestiture	714	(9)
Competition in CPE	714	(1)
Huber, Kellogg, and Thorne, Federal Telecommunications Law	714	(4)
Competition in Long Distance Telephony	718	(2)
Communications and Computer Convergence	720	(1)
Robinson, The Titanic Remembered: AT&T and the Changing World of Telecommunications	721	(2)
Breaking up Bell: The 1984 Divestiture	723	(24)
The MFJ	724	(1)
United States v. American Telephone and Telegraph Co.	724	(8)
Notes on the Government's Theory	732	(7)
Monopoly Boundaries After Divestiture	739	(1)
Robinson, The Titanic Remembered: AT&T and the Changing World of Telecommunications	739	(8)
Rate Regulation and Universal Service	747	(24)
Introduction	747	(1)
Rate Regulation	747	(16)
Rate of Return Regulation	747	(3)
Price Cap Regulation	750	(1)
Policy and Rules Concerning Rates for Dominant Carriers	751	(8)
Rate Regulation as Markets become Competitive	759	(2)
Robinson, The Titanic Remembered: AT&T and the Changing World of Telecommunications	761	(2)
Universal Service	763	(8)
Origins	763	(2)
Ramsey Pricing	765	(3)
Universal Service After Divestiture	768	(3)
The Telecommunications Act of 1996	771	(28)
Introduction	771	(1)
The Local Competition Provisions	772	(9)
Implementation of the Local Competition Provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, First Report and Order	774	(7)
Jurisdiction to Implement the 1996 Act	781	(18)
Local Competition, National Regulation	781	(6)
United States Telecom Association v. FCC (USTA II)	787	(1)
Case Studies	788	(1)
Nixon v. Missouri Municipal League	789	(4)
AT&T Communications of Illinois v. Illinois Bell	793	(6)
Unbundling, Interconnection, and Line-of-Business Regulation Under the 1996 Act	799	(64)
Introduction	799	(1)
Identifying UNEs	799	(26)
Iowa Utilities Board	799	(1)
AT&T Corporation v. Iowa Utilities Board	799	(7)
After Iowa Utilities Board	806	(4)
United States Telecom Association v. FCC (USTA II)	810	(10)
In Response to USTA II	820	(1)
Review of the Section 251 Unbundling Obligations of Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers	820	(5)
Pricing Network Elements	825	(23)
Verizon Communications Inc. v. FCC	828	(14)
Review of the Commission's Rules Regarding the Pricing of Unbundled Network Elements	842	(6)
Interconnection	848	(13)
Developing a Unified Intercarrier Compensation Regime (2001)	851	(3)
Developing a Unified Intercarrier Compensation Regime (2005)	854	(7)
BOC Line of Business Restrictions	861	(2)
Universal Service and Access Charge Reform Under the 1996 Act	863	(40)
Introduction	863	(1)
Universal Service Reform	863	(18)
FCC News Release: Joint Board Adopts Universal Service Recommendations	866	(2)
Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service (1997)	868	(13)
Access Charge Reform	881	(22)
Access Charge Reform, First Report and Order	881	(10)
Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service (2004)	891	(12)
Part Four. The Internet and Advanced Services	903	(150)
The Internet	905	(50)
Introduction	905	(1)
The History and Architecture of the Internet	905	(8)
Internet Regulation	913	(42)
The Principles of Internet Unregulation	915	(1)
A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce	915	(2)
Regulation of Indecency	917	(1)
Sable Communications of California, Inc. v. FCC	918	(5)
Regulations Concerning Indecent Communications by Telephone	923	(4)
Reno v. ACLU	927	(9)
Ashcroft v. ACLU	936	(11)
Copyright Infringement	947	(1)
MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster	948	(7)
Advanced Services	955	(98)
Introduction	955	(1)
Advanced Services Under Section 706	955	(18)
Inquiry Concerning the Deployment of Advanced Telecommunications	957	(11)
Availability of Advanced Telecommunications Capability in the United States	968	(5)
Unbundling, Interconnection, and Advanced Services	973	(11)
Intercarrier Compensation for ISP-Bound Traffic	980	(4)
Regulating DSL and Cable Modem Services	984	(28)
AT&T v. City of Portland	986	(4)
National Cable & Telecommunications Ass'n v. Brand X Internet Services	990	(17)
Appropriate Framework for Broadband Access to the Internet over Wireline Facilities (2002)	1007	(5)
Network Neutrality	1012	(16)
Appropriate Framework for Broadband Access to the Internet over Wireline Facilities (2005)	1013	(2)
Atkinson and Weiser, A ``Third Way'' on Network Neutrality	1015	(13)
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)	1028	(19)
Petition for Declaratory Ruling that pulver.com's Free World Dialup is Neither Telecommunications nor a Telecommunications Service	1030	(5)
Petition for Declaratory Ruling that AT&T's Phone-to-Phone IP Telephony Services are Exempt from Access Charges, Order	1035	(6)
American Council on Education v. FCC	1041	(6)
Competition in Telephony and Advanced Services	1047	(6)
Part Five. Epilogue	1053	(44)
Antitrust and Merger Review in Telecommunications	1055	(42)
Introduction	1055	(1)
Merger Enforcement and Telecommunications Regulation	1055	(36)
Background on Merger Policy	1056	(4)
The SBC/Ameritech Proceeding	1060	(1)
Applications of Ameritech Corp., Transferor, and SBC Communications, Inc., Transferee, for Consent to Transfer Control of Licenses and Lines Pursuant to Sections 214 and 310(D) of the Communications Act	1060	(11)
Separate Statement of Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth	1071	(5)
Statement of Commissioner Michael K. Powell	1076	(2)
Reforming the FCC's Merger Review Process	1078	(1)
Statement of Chairman William E. Kennard	1078	(2)
Statement of Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth	1080	(1)
The FCC's Own Institutional Reforms	1081	(3)
The Elusive Effort to Restrict Merger Review Authority	1084	(1)
FCC Approves SBC/AT&T and Verizon/MCI Mergers	1085	(6)
Antitrust in a Regulatory Thicket	1091	(6)
Verizon v. Law Offices of Curtis v. Trinko	1091	(6)
Statutory Appendix	1097	(74)
Conceptual Index and Telecommunications Glossary	1171