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A tough act to follow? : the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the separation of powers / Harold W. Furchtgott-Roth.
Lippincott Library HE7781 .F87 2006
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Furchtgott-Roth, Harold W.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Telecommunication policy--United States.
- Telecommunication policy.
- United States.
- United States. Telecommunications Act of 1996.
- United States. Federal Communications Commission.
- Separation of powers--United States.
- Separation of powers.
- Telecommunication--Law and legislation--United States.
- Telecommunication--Law and legislation.
- Physical Description:
- xii, 193 pages ; 23 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Washington, D.C. : AEI Press, [2006]
- Contents:
- The Natural Experiment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 2
- 1 Separation of Powers and Dashed Expectations 5
- History of the Separation of Powers 6
- The Other Benefits of Separation of Powers 8
- The Rule of Law 9
- Reinforcement of Democratic Institutions 10
- The Efficiency of Governmental Services 10
- Isolated Agencies without Separation of Powers 11
- A Charmed Life 12
- Separation of Powers Matters, Even in Isolated Agencies 13
- 2 The Ancestry of the FCC 15
- Expansive Power under the Communications Act of 1934 15
- Concentration of Powers and the FCC 17
- The FCC Evolves over Time 19
- Congress Considers Revising the Communications Act of 1934 20
- The Consent Decree Problem 21
- The Unending Bureaucracy Problem 23
- The Technology Retardation Problem 24
- The Antitrust Problem 25
- The False Scarcity Problem 26
- The Cost-Accounting Problem 27
- The Cable Problem 27
- The "Public Interest" Problem 29
- Subtle Problems 30
- 3 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 31
- Solutions 31
- February 8, 1996 33
- A Triumph of Individuals over Government 34
- August 8, 1996 35
- No Branch of Government to Discipline the FCC 36
- The Bubble Bursts 37
- Causes of Boom and Bust 39
- Benign Explanations 39
- Bad Behavior 40
- Bad Implementation of a Law 41
- The Core of the Problem 42
- 4 The Courts and the Administration Will Not Discipline the FCC 45
- The Supreme Court Holds That Congress, Not Courts, Must Discipline the FCC 46
- Iowa Utilities Board Sanctions FCC Discretion as Residual from the Communications Act of 1934 47
- Chevron Deference Reinforces Combined Powers of Government 49
- Despite the Courts, the FCC Limits Speech 53
- The Administration Will Not Interfere with the FCC 54
- The FCC Is Left Alone to Divine Congressional Intent 55
- 5 Congress Will Not Discipline the FCC 59
- Congress Is Ill Equipped to Discipline the FCC 59
- Congress Has Limited Means to Ensure That Its Intent Is Carried Out 60
- The FCC Provides Plausible Deniability to Congress 66
- The FCC Cannot Discipline Itself 67
- 6 Individuals Do Not or Cannot Discipline the FCC 69
- Problems Associated with Insulation from the Public 70
- Unresponsiveness to Citizen Concerns 71
- A Hidden Tax 72
- Merger Reviews 73
- The Exception That Proves the Rule 74
- Combined Powers Make Individuals Reluctant to Take Disputes to the FCC 76
- 7 Sloppy Rulemaking 78
- Rules That Kept Power at the FCC for Enforcement and Adjudication 79
- A History of Written and Unwritten Rules Facilitates Sloppiness 80
- The "Public Interest" as Authority 81
- Hidden Taxes 82
- A Poor Track Record in Court Has Done Little to Improve Rulemaking 84
- Consequential Costs for Both Businesses and Consumers 89
- Combination of Powers and Sloppy Rules 91
- 8 Unpredictable FCC Rules and Communications Law 92
- Uncertainty and Delays from Sloppy Rules 93
- Uncertainty of Enforcement 98
- Uncertainty of Adjudication 99
- Loss of Valuable Time 100
- The Costs of Negotiations and Settlements as a Result of Uncertainty 102
- 9 An Appearance of Discriminatory Treatment by the FCC 104
- Discriminatory Enforcement 105
- Methods of Detection 105
- Standards of Enforcement 108
- Discriminatory Adjudicatory Proceedings 109
- Merger Review Activities at the FCC 109
- BOC Section 271 Reviews 116
- Waivers 118
- The CALLS Proceeding 119
- 10 The Miracle of Compound Interests 125
- Auctions 126
- Peculiar Financing 127
- The C Block 128
- A New FCC-Where There's a Will There Must Be a Way 130
- The Market Turns 132
- Eureka! 133
- Regulatory vs. Fiduciary 135
- Collateral Damage 136
- Re-auction 138
- The D.C. Circuit Court Opinion 141
- Welcome to the Sausage Factory 142
- The Market Collapses Again 143
- Results of the Natural Experiment 146
- A Cautionary Tale 147
- Failure to Separate Powers 148
- How to Improve the Situation 150.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 158-180) and index.
- ISBN:
- 084474235X
- OCLC:
- 62127926
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