Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-29-2022
Abstract
Although most studies of major communications reform legislation focus on the merits of their substantive provisions, analyzing the political dynamics that led to the enactment of such legislation can yield important insights. An examination of the tradeoffs that led the major industry segments to support the Telecommunications Act of 1996 provides a useful illustration of the political bargain that it embodies. Application of a similar analysis to the current context identifies seven components that could form the basis for the next communications statute: universal service, pole attachments, privacy, intermediary immunity, net neutrality, spectrum policy, and antitrust reform. Determining how these components might fit together requires an assessment of areas in which industry interests overlap and diverge as well as aspects of the political environment that can make passage of reform legislation more difficult.
Keywords
Telecommunications law & policy, legislation, congressional politics, technological change, cellular telephony, 5G broadband, digital platforms, social media, competition
Publication Title
Berkeley Technology Law Journal
Repository Citation
Yoo, Christopher S. and Keung, Tiffany, "The Political Dynamics of Legislative Reform: Potential Drivers of the Next Communications Statute" (2022). All Faculty Scholarship. 2823.
https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38FN10T17
Included in
American Politics Commons, Communications Law Commons, Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Internet Law Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Legislation Commons, Public Policy Commons
Publication Citation
Berkeley Tech. L. J. (forthcoming)