The Supreme Court has declined to review the Circuit's decision overturning the FCC's 2008 revisions to the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule.… Continue Reading
The Janet Jackson case is, for all intents and purposes, finished. But, as has been customary with just about everything surrounding L'Affaire Jackson, even the Supreme Court's final order included some unexpected flair.… Continue Reading
It's Mission Abstract Update Time! In the lawsuit brought by Mission Abstract Data against a bunch of Big Broadcasters, those Big Broadcasters have recently filed a pleading that radio broadcasters should take a look at.… Continue Reading
You've read his stuff, and you've probably wondered - who is this man of mystery they call the Swami? Now you can hear him and see him expounding (with customary eloquence) about the Supreme Court's latest decision on broadcast indecency.… Continue Reading
Last April the Copyright Royalty Board sought comment on various proposals for NCE royalty rates for 2013-2017, but its notice didn't mention proposed rates for NPR or PBS stations. Now we know why.… Continue Reading
The Commission is asking whether NCE stations should be routinely permitted to interrupt their regular programming for fundraising activities for the benefit of non-profit entities other than the station itself.… Continue Reading
For some insight into what the Court's recent decision on indecency means going forward, we called on the Swami, Kevin Goldberg. Not surprisingly, he had some thoughts.… Continue Reading
In a rare move, the FCC will allow parties to submit information without also posting it in the docket. But be careful: information sent to the FCC remains subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.… Continue Reading
The Supreme Court has sent the Fox and NYPD Blue cases back down to the Second Circuit. While that might sound like bad news for broadcasters, that's not necessarily the case. In fact, Fox and ABC can clearly view this decision as a significant victory.… Continue Reading
Stiffing the Commission on a consent decree commitment can't be tolerated, even when the stiffing occurs because the stiffer simply can't afford to pay. So the FCC has piled on even more fines to make that point clear.… Continue Reading
Section 1.17(b) prohibits what we have referred to as "misrepresentation lite", which seems to say that any mistake in anything you file with the FCC could subject you to a very substantial penalty, even if the mistake is purely unintentional. An AM licensee in Texas found out about this the hard way.… Continue Reading
Several years ago, the Commission adopted two rules aimed at easing the anticipated effects of the DTV transition on some cable viewers and cable systems. The Commission has now taken another look at those two rules.… Continue Reading
At the current rate of assignment, the FCC should be in good shape through the year 10,000 A.D. Not taking any chances, though, it can further expand the number of codes without the formalities of a rule amendment.… Continue Reading
What I will remember most is the non-English new gTLDs that jumped off the screen: Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, and Cyrillic - a key reason many of us worked so hard to open the Internet domain name system to a range of languages and to a majority of the world.… Continue Reading
Having completed its long-awaited overhaul of USF expenditures, the FCC has now turned its attention to the contributions side of the house.… Continue Reading
The Radio Music License Committee and BMI have announced a deal regarding the royalty rates and terms to be paid by radio stations through 2016.… Continue Reading
The 42 GHz spectrum is needed, says the coalition, to help meet the rapidly growing demand for "backhaul" - the carriage of customers' mobile data between cell towers and providers' network facilities.… Continue Reading
NCE stations are now officially on notice that, when they broker airtime to a third-party programmer, the collection of any fees in excess of "reimbursement of operating expenses" is verboten.… Continue Reading
We here at CommLawBlog are lawyers, not economists, but we are pleased to see the FCC thinking creatively about the problem of working new entrants into the spectrum.… Continue Reading
Mission Abstract Data has filed a motion with the United States District Court in Delaware requesting that the stay in its lawsuit against a number of Big Broadcasters be lifted.… Continue Reading
They're baaaack! Mission Abstract Data is back, trying to convince radio broadcasters that they should be signing licensing agreements covering certain technology for which MAD claims to be the patent holder.… Continue Reading
If you've been worrying about whether the "information collection" aspects of the revised EAS rules would be in effect soon enough to give everybody time to meet the upcoming deadline for CAP compliance, you can breathe easy.… Continue Reading
