Could the Copyright Office become an independent agency with rulemaking power? Congress is examining all phases of copyright law, as well as the functioning of the Copyright Office. In connection with that review, the Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante (the head of the Copyright Office) sent a letter to John Conyers, the Ranking Member of… Continue Reading
Panel picks despite possibly premature petitions. The next time you find yourself at a roulette table in the Net Neutrality Casino, put all your chips on “D.C. Circuit”. It’s a good bet. As readers may recall, back in 2011, the D.C. ...
Our Internet guru digs deep into the Open Internet decision and comes up with … questions. I recently posted an item summarizing the broad strokes of the FCC’s new “Open Internet” (a/k/a net neutrality) rules and polici...
As we all know, last June the Commission adopted its massive Report and Order setting out the rules for implementation of the spectrum incentive auction. The auction, of course, is one element of a major reorganization of the spectrum in which (among o...
Coming soon: Innovative auction to dispose of innovative spectrum. The FCC has announced yet another spectrum auction. Ho-hum, right? WRONG – this isn’t like any previous auction. First, there’s the spectrum that’s up for b...
The FCC two years ago adopted a rule requiring that television stations that provide emergency information visually (e.g. through open captions or crawls), outside of news programming, convert that emergency information into audio and run that audio on SAP channels (secondary audio programming channels – usually used for Spanish language translations of English-language programs). That… Continue Reading
April is one of those months with many routine FCC obligations. Quarterly Issues Programs lists need to be in your public file by the 10th of the month. This is an obligation for all full-power broadcast stations – commercial or noncommercial. Similarly, all TV stations have an obligation to submit their Children’s Television Reports on… Continue Reading
March 2015 Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue includes: Deceptive Practices Yield Multi-Million Dollar Fines for Telephone Interexchange Carriers LPFM Ads Cost $16,000 Multiple TV Station Licensees Face $6,000 Fines for Failing […]
By Scott R. Flick and Jessica Nyman March 2015 Pillsbury's communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month's ...