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FEDERAL
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| VOLUME 59 | March 2007 | NUMBER 2 |
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Does Video Delivered over a Telephone Network Require a Cable Franchise?
By Robert W. Crandall, J. Gregory Sidak & Hal J. Singer................... 251
This Article examines whether, on legal or policy grounds, video services provided over a telephone network should be regulated as a traditional cable service or whether a different approach is warranted. The Authors find that municipal franchise requirements for video services provided over telephone networks would reduce consumer welfare. The Authors estimate that, even without considering any welfare gains owing to higher quality, the consumer welfare gains from entry exceed the potential loss in franchise fee revenue to municipalities by a factor of nearly three to one.
By Philip M. Napoli & Michelle Seaton............................................... 295
Communications policymaking increasingly relies upon research derived from large-scale databases manufactured and marketed by commercial organizations. One byproduct of this situation is that substantial inequalities in access to these data arise. These information asymmetries can result in research that fails to reflect the policy considerations of the full range of interested stakeholders. This Article explores these issues via a case study of the FCC’s 2003 media ownership proceeding and offers suggestions for how existing disparities in access to policy-relevant data might be addressed.
Competition After Unbundling: Entry, Industry Structure, and Convergence
By George S. Ford, Thomas M. Koutsky & Lawrence J. Spiwak ........ 331
In the last few years, U.S. telecoms policy has shifted from encouraging the sharing of existing networks to facilitating the deployment of advanced communications networks. Given the large capital expenditures required for these networks, there can be only a few of such networks. In light of the natural forces that limit the number of facilities-based suppliers, it is vital for policymakers to investigate and implement rules that make markets more conducive to facilities-based entry and eliminate any existing rules that discourage deployment. The purpose of this Article is to provide a simple conceptual framework to evaluate the effect of particular rules and regulation on the construction of advanced communications networks and the expansion of existing networks into new markets. We provide numerical examples and a number of applications to illustrate how the conceptual framework implicates particular rules and regulations as to their effect on facilities-based entry. Applications include an analysis of convergence, regulated limitations on service offerings, the pernicious effects of cable franchising, and the potential for collusion.
By Barbara A. Cherry ........................................................................... 369
Satisfying the constraints for sustainable regulatory telecommunications
policies is more challenging for regulatory regimes based on competition than
monopoly. In an earlier paper, Johannes Bauer and I used complexity theory to
improve our understanding of the requirements for sustainable
telecommunications policies, showing that regulation has a diminishing
capacity to achieve specifically desired outcomes and greater attention must be
paid to the adaptability of policies and policymaking processes themselves. The
present Article examines the implications of the complexity theory perspective
for federalism. Federalism is a distinctive (patching) algorithm that confers
system advantages for adaptability through diversity and coupling of
policymaking jurisdictions—mechanisms for both experimentation and
stability—that are essential for development of sustainable policies. An
important implication is that policies of complete federal preemption, and
particularly full deregulation, must be approached with great caution because
such policies eliminate the adaptive properties of a more highly patched and
coupled policymaking system.
By Amy Kristin Sanders ....................................................................... 403
In this Article, the Author examines the Newspaper Preservation Act, a federal
antitrust exemption for newspapers, in light of the changing landscape of media
ownership. After doing so, she argues that federal merger review for media
companies should be revised to include a broader definition of 'geographic
market' and a more restrictive definition of 'failing firm' to discourage the
corporatization of the media.
Echelon’s Effect: The Obsolescence of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Legal Regime
By Matt Bedan .....................................................................................425
The technological progress of the past thirty years has vastly increased the surveillance capabilities of the global intelligence community. At the same time, the law governing the use of this technology and its consequent information has remained largely static. This lack of adjustment, for better or worse, has rendered federal foreign intelligence surveillance law irrelevant in many respects.
Conflict, Terrorism and the Media in Asia
By Rebekah L. Bina.............................................................................445
The fourth and latest release in a series of publications on the impact of media and changes in societal culture in Asia, this book provides a study of the subnational conflicts across Asia and the global "War on Terror." The authors examine the condition of free press, access to media, and diversity in news reporting to explore how media is used as a tool to facilitate ideological coalition, shelter populations, and maintain political stability.
Federal Communications Law Journal
Indiana University School of Law
© 1993-2007;
fclj@indiana.edu
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