[[alternative]]The Legal and Regulatory Regime of Telecommunications and Communication Services

計畫編號：NSC89-2414-H032-031研究期間：200008~200107研究經費：237,000[[sponsorship]]行政院國家科學委員

MEDIA CONCENTRATIONS AND PLURALISM

The preservation of plurality of political opinions in operations of concentration in the media secto

A Return to Written Consent: A Proposal to the FCC to Eliminate Slamming

The FCC is charged with the task of encouraging competition in the telecommunications industry, yet it must also assure that competition remains free and fair to consumers. Various long-distance providers are taking advantage of their deregulated freedom by engaging in slamming. The author proposes a more effective form of consumer protection through the return of a short-lived FCC rule which required written customer authorization before the customer\u27s long-distance service could be switched

The Past and Future of Electricity Regulation

Electric industry restructuring has been an activity not free from difficulties. The California energy crisis of the summer of 2000, the world crisis after September 11, as well as the implosion of Enron have raised questions about the future of electricity restructuring. As a policy matter, the move to reduce command-and-control regulation of the electric industry and to promote competition enjoys widespread support. The industry, however, is not one that can be totally deregulated. This Article argues that the California and Enron crises may slow restructuring, but restructuring should continue as a matter of sound industrial policy. In addition, the crisis of September 11, while raising questions about the future of our energy policy, shouid have no bearing on the continuation of restructuring. The central problem with restructuring is the fact that transmission networks continue to have natural monopoly characteristics. Consequently, as transmission networks continue to be privately owned and controlled, problems of transmission price discrimination, fairness, and reasonableness must be addressed before restructuring can succeed

Creating Effective Broadband Network Regulation

The Internet is central to the business and pastimes of Americans. Calls for increased regulation are ongoing, inevitable, and often justified. But calls for network neutrality or nondiscrimination assume with little hesitation federal agency competence to give predictable and accurate meaning to these terms and create regulations to implement them. This Article\u27s chief contribution to Internet policy debate is to focus attention on the likelihood of successful FCC Internet regulation-a key assumption of some advocates. The Article analyzes three characteristics that hobble the FCC, which is the likeliest federal agency to provide prescriptive rules. First, the record for the agency on a host of industry decisions where technology plays a pivotal role tilts decidedly against counting on successful regulation. Second, the technology here is unlike anything the FCC has successfully regulated before. Judging networks, which are constructed and operated for maximum private gain and not based on a government-approved rate of return model, isn\u27t among them. Finally, the agency itself has yet to demonstrate that it is the best locus of power for deciding the fate of the Internet. The political economy of the FCC makes it less successful as an expert agency. This Article focuses on two somewhat interrelated solutions: reliance on the shame/Wiki/blog culture of the Internet and disclosure of management practices by network providers, enforceable under contract. These approaches are congenial with the most basic Internet values of information transparency and sharing

Comparative data protection and security : a critical evaluation of legal standards

This study1 addresses the key information technology issues of the age and its unintended consequences. The issues include social control by businesses, governments, and information age Star Chambers. The study focuses on a comparative analysis of data protection, data security, and information privacy (DPSIP) laws, regulations, and practices in five countries. The countries include Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The study addresses relevant international legal standards and justifications. This multidisciplinary analysis includes a systems thinking approach from a legal, business, governmental, policy, political theory, psychosocial, and psychological perspective. The study implements a comparative law and sociolegal research strategy. Historic, linguistic, and statistical strategies are applied. The study concludes with a next step proposal, based on the research, for the international community, the five countries in the study, and specifically, South Africa as it has yet to enact a sound DPSIP approach.LL. D