Law and Regulations (Filled in with Text Book Expliantion)

Law and Regulations 1910, 1912 ? laws about shipping communication 1920 ? broadcast born; interference, but no government power to stop Radio Act of 1927 ? requested by broadcasters and audience Justification ? scarcity of frequencies; owned by the public Public Interest, convenience, and necessity Deregulation ? let the marketplace decide Communications Act of 1934 ? Federal Communications Commission Telecommunications Act of 1996 ? cable; broadcasting ownership Who if the FCC? 5 Commissioners appointed by the president for 5-year terms with advice and consent of the senate One ?Chairperson? Funded by taxes and entities the FCC regulates and pay fees How do broadcasters feel about the FCC? If a decision is made by the FCC that is not liked, their decisions can be appealed to confirm or reverse commission?s decisions How does the FCC enforce its rules? Renewal File If a station commits a violation they FCC can put a ?ding? on their record and will be questioned when they are up for renewing their license Licensing The FCC can revoke a stations license Fines The FCC can hand out monetary fines to a station due to indecency or obscenity Duties of the FCC Oversee broadcating, cable, phone service, satellite, emergency comm., internet, etc. No direct control of networks The catch is that the FCC can regulate the stations on which the networks broadcast their programming. Engineering Allocates frequency spectrum Assigns frequencies, etc Call letters Stations west of the MS begin with K Stations east of the MS begin with W EAS (emergency alert system) Ties together all radio and TV stations so that information can be broadcast from the government to the citizenry during a national emergency Licensing Criteria Character ? no felonies Citizenship ? Murdock had to get citizenship Financial ? have to be able to support themselves for 3 months Technical ? can you meet the technical guidelines ? tech engeineers Auctions When the FCC allocates frequencies it often conducts an auction and gives the service to the highest bidder. Renewing License Radio and TV Station renew every 8 years Approving transfer of licenses Owner must keep station for three years before selling it. Policy made to discourage investments buying Revoking License FCC can revoke license outright or give them a short term renewal, meaning if they don?t change their ways it will be revoked for good. Programming Not allowed to censor due to the 1st Amendment No prior restraint Obscenity ? program must contain the depiction of sexual acts in an offensive manner, must appeal to prurient interests of the average person, and must last serious artistic, literary, political, or scientific value. Indecency ? language that, in context depicts or describes, in terms broadcasts medium, sexual or excretory activities or organs at times of the day when there is reasonable risk the children may be in the audience 1973 ? 7 dirty words safe harbor 10 pm to 6 am children?s programming limited amount of advertising age specific educational programs required v-chips Telecommunications act of 1996 required TV makers install chips to help shield children from undesirable programming. Political Programming ? Equal Time ? Section 315 ? Equal Opportunity ?If any licensee shall permit any person who is legally qualified candidate for any public office to use broadcast station, he shall afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that same office in the use of such broadcasting station.? Communication Act of 1934 Section 315 all candidates must be seen at the same time period all candidates must be able to purchase air time at same rate section 315 was amended to exclude news casts can?t censor Fairness Doctrine Dead Stations required to cover controversial issues of public importance and cover them failry Lotteries Can?t have them Difference between a lottery and a contests is an entrance fee Hoax Outlawed Ownership Radio No national cap Local number of stations owned depends on stations in the market TV Signal can?t reach more than 39% of the audience nationwide Duopoly ? 2 TVs per market if 8 voices Crossownership A company with 2 TV stations in a market can own up to 6 radio stations in there are 20 voices or 1 TV and 7 radio stations. Dec. 2007 ? FCC said that one company could own a newspaper and a broadcast outlet in the same Markey - -but only in top 20 markets. Waivers for smaller markets were possible. New proposals: FCC wants a return to ascertainment, where citizens are surveyed to see if they think the station is doing a good job Copyright 1998 FCC extended the copyright law to 70 years after the death of they holder Fair use ? allows use of the work without permission from or payment to the copyright holder Public domain ? after copyrights run out works are placed here and can be used by anyone with permission Blanket License - yearly fee paid, used by radio so they don?t have to get license for each piece of music Per-Program Fee BMI and ASCAP ? distribute the money they collect to composers and publishers in accordance with the amount of music aired Web Need copyright ok for downloading or webcasting