Communications law
Communications law [1] refers to the regulation of electronic communications by wire or radio.[2] It encompasses regulations governing broadcasting, telephone and telecommunications service, cable television, satellite communications,[3] wireless telecommunications, and the Internet.[4]
History
In the 19th century cross-border communication was facilitated by the development of the telegraph and Morse code. The first transatlantic cable was installed between 1858 and 1866. To address these developments international organizations were created, notably the International Telegraph Union in 1865 (today the International Telecommunication Union).
Areas of Communications Law
Communications laws regulate the activities of a
Radiospectrum Regulation
Rules for spectrum management governing who may make transmissions over the public airwaves and under what conditions;[6] Assignment of blocks of radio frequency for government, private, public, or commercial use by allocation or spectrum auction.[7]
Market Regulation
Rules governing relationships between various communications industries and market participants designed to ensure the steady flow of communications and prevent market failures; Includes rules governing broadcast signal must-carry[8] and retransmission consent,[9] the interconnection of telecommunications facilities,[10] wireless network roaming, intercarrier compensation,[11] cable program access and carriage,[12] net neutrality,[13][14] and utility pole attachments.[15]
Content Regulation
Rules prohibiting broadcast obscenity[16] and limiting the commercial content of children's programming; Rules to ensure media coverage of local events and to preserve diversity of viewpoints by preventing too much concentration of media ownership in local markets.[17]
Access to Markets
Rules designed to ensure communications markets are open to new entrants;
Consumer Protection
Ensuring the reasonableness of rates, terms, and conditions of communications services offered to the public, particularly in areas that lack competition in one or more services;[20] Rules requiring closed captioning and services for the hearing impaired; Review of communications provider mergers and acquisitions to ensure the public will benefit from the consolidation.[21][22]
Communications Law in the United States
In the United States, the primary sources of communications law are the federal
Communications regulations are found in
References
- ^ Kang, Jerry. Communications Law and Policy: Cases and Materials. Aspen Publishers, 2001.
- ^ "Georgetown Law Curriculum Guide". Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ^ Rothblatt, Martin A. "Impact of International Satellite Communications Law upon Access to the Geostationary Orbit and the Electromagnetic Spectrum, The." Tex. Int'l LJ 16 (1981): 207.
- ^ Geller, Henry. "Communications Law--A Half Century Later." Fed. Comm. LJ 37 (1985): 73.
- ^ Brotman, Stuart N. Communications Law and Practice. Law Journal Press, 2010.
- ^ Manner, Jennifer A. Spectrum Wars: The Policy and Technology Debate. Artech House Publishers, 2003.
- ^ Bykowsky, Mark M., Robert J. Cull, and John O. Ledyard. "Mutually Destructive Bidding: The FCC Auction Design Problem." Journal of Regulatory Economics 17.3 (2000): 205-228.
- ^ Peritz, Marc. "Turner Broadcasting v. FCC: A First Amendment Challenge to Cable Television Must-Carry Rules." Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 3 (1994): 715.
- ^ Lubinsky, Charles. "Reconsidering Retransmission Consent: An Examination of the Retransmission Consent Provision (47 USC 325 (b)) of the 1992 Cable Act." Fed. Comm. LJ 49 (1996): 99.
- ^ Gilo, David. "A Market Based Approach to Telecom Interconnection." Southern California Law Review 77.1-51 (2003).
- ^ Ryen, Jeffrey I. "Battle over Reciprocal Compensation: The FCC's Ongoing Struggle to Regulate Intercarrier Compensation Fees for ISP-Bound Traffic, The." BUJ Sci. & Tech. L. 8 (2002): 614.
- ^ Waterman, David. "Vertical Integration and Program Access in the Cable Television Industry." Fed. Comm. LJ 47 (1994): 511.
- ^ Crawford, Susan P. "The Internet and the Project of Communications Law." bepress Legal Series (2007): 1996.
- ^ Fedeli, Christopher. "Carpool Lanes on the Internet: Effective Network Management," 26 Comm. Law. 1 (2009).
- ^ Huettner, David A. "Optimal Second Best Pricing of CATV Pole Attachments." Southern Economic Journal (1982): 996-1015.
- ^ "FCC website". Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ^ Owen, Bruce M. "Regulatory Reform: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the FCC Media Ownership Rules." L. Rev. MSU-DCL (2003): 671.
- ^ Brito, Jerry, and Jerry Ellig. "Video Killed the Franchise Star: The Consumer Cost of Cable Franchising and Policy Alternatives." Available at SSRN 893606 (2006).
- ^ Esbin, Barbara S., and Gary S. Lutzker. "Poles, Holes and Cable Open Access: Where the Global Information Superhighway Meets the Local Right-of-Way." CommLaw Conspectus 10 (2001): 23.
- ^ Harris, Robert G., and C. Jeffrey Kraft. "Meddling Through: Regulating Local Telephone Competition in the United States." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 11.4 (1997): 93-112.
- ^ "FCC website". Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ^ Koutsky, Thomas M., and Lawrence J. Spiwak. "Separating Politics from Policy in FCC Merger Reviews: A Basic Legal Primer of the Public Interest Standard." CommLaw Conspectus 18 (2009): 329.
- ^ "Pole Attachments" (PDF). National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
- ^ Podsada, Janice. "Coalition Opposes Bill to Revamp State Telecommunications Laws". The Hartford Courant.
- ^ Eleff, Bob. New State Cable TV Franchising Laws. Research Department, Minnesota House of Representatives, 2006.
- ^ "Zoning Regulations and Antenna Siting" (PDF). Princeton University. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ^ Evans, Sara A. "Wireless Service Providers v. Zoning Commissions: Preservation of State and Local Zoning Authority Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996." Ga. L. Rev. 32 (1997): 965.
- ^ "Federal Communications Bar Association website". Retrieved 3 March 2013.