Comm 583—Seminar on U.S. Telecommunications Policy—Fall 2002

Wednesday 9:00-1200, Chambers 113a

 

Instructor:       Matt Jackson              mattj@psu.edu

Office:             219 Carnegie              863-6419

Webpage:        http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/m/x/mxj20/                                                     

 

Office hours: Wed 1:30 - 3:00 & Thurs 2:30 – 4:30, and by appointment.

 

Objectives:

This course is designed to provide graduate students with a foundation in the U.S. policymaking process as it pertains to telecommunications (broadcasting, cable, telephony, and the Internet).  Changes in technology, business practices, and regulatory philosophy are leading to dramatic changes in how the various telecommunications industries are regulated.  We will examine how these changes impact the industry and society as a whole.  We will also explore the theoretical perspectives that drive policymaking.  Some of the questions we will focus on include:

 

·         When is regulation appropriate?

·         How does the regulatory process work?

·         How do we define the public interest?

·         How can we choose the best policies for the future?

 

Format:

This course is discussion-based.  We will be exploring very complex issues together as a community.  Your active participation is required to ensure the success of the course and to help yourself and others learn more effectively.  For some of you, this is your first graduate class.  Please be aware that the reading load is much heavier than at the undergraduate level.  We are covering a vast amount of material in a short time.  In addition, these readings are often complex and difficult.  Make sure you allot yourself enough time to complete each week’s assignment.  This is an small seminar and it will not function properly unless you keep up with the readings.  Your grade will be based primarily on take-home exams and a research paper.  However, class participation will also affect your final grade.

Textbook and course packet:

Foundations of Communications Policy, by Philip Napoli, Hampton Press (2001).

The course packet is available at the Student Book Store, 330 E. College Ave.

 

Optional texts:  The following are optional texts to assist you in legal research and analysis.

Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law, 10th edition,  by Stephen Elias and Susan Levinkind, Nolo Press (2002).

Legal Analysis: The Fundamental Skill, by David Romanz and Kathleen Elliott Vinson, Carolina Academic Press (1998).

 

In addition, there are two free listservs that provide daily news summaries that I strongly urge you to read:

 

·         Benton Foundation Communications Policy Listserv (Benton-Compolicy list):

http://owa.benton.org/listserv/wa.exe?SUBED1=benton-compolicy&A=1

·         Gigalaw listserv: Gigalaw Daily News Newsletter:

http://www.gigalaw.com/newsletters/dailynews.html

 

Assignments:

There will be two take-home exams, each worth 25% of your grade and a research paper worth 50% of your grade.  The exams will give you a choice of questions which you will use to reflect on the readings and class discussion.  Your answers will be graded primarily on how well you synthesize the concepts we have been discussing.

 

Reaction Papers:

Each week you will turn in a short reaction paper based on that week’s reading assignments.  You might discuss a common theme running through all the readings, relate the reading to previous readings, comment on one or two particular readings, questions or critiques regarding the author’s method or evidence, relate the readings to a current topic (or your paper), etc.  The reaction paper should be more than a summary of the reading.  You will get 2 “free” weeks of your own choosing when you do not have to turn in a reaction paper (but you are still expected to do the reading!).

 

Research paper:

The purpose of the paper is to examine a specific policy question in depth.  Your goal should be to present your paper at an academic conference and/or submit it for publication in an appropriate academic journal.  To facilitate this process, you will turn in the final draft of your paper at least four weeks before the end of the semester (two copies).  All papers must adhere to a standard style such as MLA, APA, or Bluebook.  If you do not already own a style manual, I urge you to purchase one, as you will need it throughout your graduate career.

 

Paper deadlines:

·         September 18—Paper proposal and short bibliography due via e-mail

·         October 2—Annotated bibliography due

·         October 23—Paper outline and update due

·         November 13—Paper due

·         November 20—Feedback due

·         December 4—Revised paper due

 

Academic honesty: 

The University requires that I put my academic integrity policy in my syllabus.  I assume you know better than to be dishonest but here is the official policy:

 

Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly and creative activity in an open, honest and responsible manner, free from fraud and deception, and is an educational objective of the College of Communications and the university.  Cheating, including plagiarism, falsification of research data, using the same assignment for more than one class, turning in someone else’s work, or passively allowing others to copy your work, will result in academic penalties at the discretion of the instructor, and may result in the grade of “XF’ (failed for academic dishonesty) being put on your permanent transcript.  In serious cases it could also result in suspension or dismissal from the university.

 

As students studying communication, you should understand and avoid plagiarism (presenting the work of others as your own). Students come to graduate school with varying levels of experience in writing research papers.  While plagiarism is often unintentional, ignorance is not an excuse.  Please review the plagiarism guidelines at: http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/m/x/mxj20/comm381/plagiarism.htm         

 

The rules and policies regarding academic integrity should be reviewed by every student, and can be found online at: www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/47-00.html#49-20, and in the College of Communications document, “Academic Integrity Policy and Procedures.”  Any student with a question about academic integrity or plagiarism is strongly encouraged to discuss it with his or her instructor.

 

 

Schedule and reading assignments

Subject to change!

 

 

August 28--Introduction

Foundations of Communications Policy, Chapters 1 & 2.

 

Thomas G. Krattenmaker, Chapters 1, 11, 8: Telecommunications Law and Policy, 2d edition (1998).

 

September 4—Economic analysis

Richard Posner, Chapter 3: Property (pages 29-41), Economic Analysis of Law, 3rd Edition, (1986). [HANDOUT]

 

Douglas F. Greer.  Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview (3-23), Industrial Organization and Public Policy. 3rd ed. (1992).  [HANDOUT]

 

Edgar & Jacqueline Browning. Chapter.19: Public Goods & Externalities (584-602), Microeconomic Theory and Applications, 3rd ed. (1989).

 

Stanley Fisher, et. al. Chapter 14: Government & the Monopoly Problem (251-267), Introduction to Microeconomics, 2nd ed. (1988).

 

Robert McChesney, Critique of the free market

 

September 11—Legal analysis

Don Pember.  Chapter 1: The American Legal System, Mass Media Law (2002).

 

Handout on precedent

 

Institutions of Telecommunications Policy

 

FCC.  Chapters 2-3: The U.S. Model & Components of the Regulatory Process, Connecting the Globe A Regulator’s Guide to Building a Global Information Community (1999).

 

FCC.  Rule-Making Process.

 

Raymond Belliotti, Chapter 6: Historical Necessity and Radical Contingency (pp 145-161), Justifying Law (1992).

 

Thomas Streeter, “Beyond Freedom of Speech and the Public Interest,” in Journal of Communication v. 40, n.2  (pp 43-63) (1990).

 

 

September 18—Policy analysis

Paper topic and short bibliography due via e-mail

Foundations of Communications Policy, Chapter 10.

 

Robert Horwitz, Chapters 1 & 2, Irony of Regulatory Reform (1989).

 

Thomas Streeter, Chapter 2: Liberalism, Corporate Liberalism (pp 22-58), Selling the Air (1996).

 

Robert McChesney, Introduction (pp 1-7), Rich Media, Poor Democracy (1999). [HANDOUT]

 

Patricia Aufderheide, Chapter 1, Communications Policy and the Public Interest (1999). [HANDOUT]

 

 

September 25—The Public Interest

Foundations of Communications Policy, Chapter 4.

 

William Rowland, “The Meaning of ‘The Public Interest’ in Communications Policy, Part I,” (pp. 309-328) in Communications Law and Policy v. 2 n.3 (1997). [HANDOUT]

 

Mark Fowler and Daniel Brenner, “A Marketplace Approach to Broadcast Regulation,” 60 Texas Law Review (pp 207-257) (1982).

 

Market Failures That Justify Regulation

 

The President's Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters.  “Appendix D: Innovative Approaches to Public Interest Responsibilities,” Public Interest Standard in Television Broadcasting (1998).

 

FCC 96-335.  Policies and Rules Concerning Children's Television Programming (MM Docket No. 93-48) Report & Order (August 8, 1996).

 

 

October 2—First Amendment and Marketplace of Ideas

Annotated bibliography due

Foundations of Communications Policy, Chapters 3 & 5.

 

Free Speech Quotes

 

First Amendment Applied to Different Media

 

FCC v. Pacifica, 438 U.S. 726 (1978).

 

Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (1997).

 

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC, 512 U.S. 622 (1994) [Turner I].

 

 

October 9—Diversity

Foundations of Communications Policy, Chapter 6.

 

 

October 16--Competition

Foundations of Communications Policy, Chapter 7.

 

 

 

October 23—Competition (con’t)

Paper outline and update due

Daniel L. Brenner, Chapter 1: Public Utility Theory (1-13), Law and Regulation of Common Carriers in the Communications Industry (2nd edition) (1996).  [Handout]

 

Michael Meyerson, Ideas of the Marketplace: A Guide to the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Federal Communications Law Journal vol. 49, no. 2, (1997).

 

FCC.  Chapter 5: Competition in Telecommunications Services, Connecting the Globe A Regulator’s Guide to Building a Global Information Community (1999).

 

 

 

October 30—Universal service

Foundations of Communications Policy, Chapter 8.

 

Milton Mueller. Chapter 14: Universal Service in the 1990s (pp 165-185), Universal Service, (1997). [HANDOUT]

 

Lawrence Gasman.  Universal Service: The New Telecommunications Entitlements and Taxes.  Cato Policy Analysis No. 310 (1998).

 

FCC.  Report to Congress: In the Matter of Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service (1998).

 

Jonathan Weinberg.  The Internet and “Telecommunications Services,” Universal Service Mechanisms, Access Charges, and Other Flotsom of the Regulatory System (211-244) in Yale Journal on Regulation vol. 16 (1999).

 

 

November 6—Broadband access

FCC.  Internet Over Cable Declaratory Ruling.

 

FCC.  Broadband Today--A Staff Report (1999).

 

BRIE: Francois Bar, Stephen Cohen, et al.  Defending the Internet Revolution in the Broadband Era: When Doing Nothing is Doing Harm.  Berekeley Roundtable on International Economy (BRIE) August, 1999.

 

 

November 13—Localism

Paper due

Foundations of Communications Policy, Chapter 9.

 

 

November 20—Copyright and trademarks

Feedback due

Matt Jackson, “The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998: A Proposed Amendment to Accommodate Free Speech,” Communication Law and Policy, v. 5 (pp 61-92) (2000).

 

WIPO.  Management of Internet Names and Addresses: Intellectual Property Issues (1999).

 

Jessica Litman, "Essay: The DNS Wars" Trademarks and the Internet Domain System (149-165), in Journal of Small and Emerging Business Law, vol. 4, (Spring, 2000)

 

 

December 4 & 11—Presentations

 

Paper due December 4