Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT 6.805/6.806/STS085: Ethics and Law on the Electronic Frontier
Fall Semester, 2003
Week of class on September 11
The transformation of media regulation: From Broadcast to the Internet
Remember that last week's writing assignments (rotisserie question
response and brief of Reno) are due on Wednesday, September
10. In addition, you should do the readings below before you come to
class, and be you should prepared to discuss them.
Slides from Hal's talk
today (PDF)
Topic for today
We'll begin with a discussion of the history of broadcast regulation
in the US, and the legal basis for government regulation of the
spectrum. Then we'll turn to the Internet, how it compares with
broadcast, and the evolution of Internet regulation through the
Communications Decency Act and Reno v. ACLU.
Get the text of the below cases at LexisNexis Academic or
from a law library. The handout on Researching
Legal Materials, including the Lexis-Nexis tutorial, is now online.
Readings to do before class
-
Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 395 U.S. 367 (1969). In this
ruling, the Court reaffirmed the FCC's fairness doctrine,
requiring that broadcasters provide equal coverage for both sides of
public issues, including providing reply time for opposing opinions.
The Court also affirmed the continuing relevance the scarcity
argument as a justification for regulation of the air waves.
-
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978): In this case, the
Court upheld the power of the FCC to regulate indecent (as
opposed to obscene) speech in broadcast media, thereby
codifying into law the principle that material broadcast over radio or
TV has narrower Constitutional protections than material written in
books or newspapers. The rationale for this rests on the "pervasive
presence" of the medium -- that it is difficult to avoid
unintentionally running across objectionable broadcasts even in the
privacy of one's own home -- and that the medium is "uniquely
accessible to children." The question of whether material transmitted
via the Internet is more like broadcasts or like books was central to
the arguments over the constitutionality of the CDA.
-
Sable
Communications of California, Inc. v. FCC, 492 U.S. 115 (1989): The Court ruled here
that a 1983 law banning dial-a-porn services was unconstitutional, on
the grounds that it was overly broad. The opinion by Justice White
lays out the famous "least restrictive means" test.
- Read the Supreme Court's decision in
Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (1997), and brief the ruling for
the week assignment due on September 10. You can find some helpful
background on Reno and the Communications Decency Act by
looking again at the 6.805 archive on The
Internet Censorship Saga: 1994-1997
To do after class today
There will be a new rotisserie question posted before noon on Friday,
September 12.
Remember that the each week's readings are to be done before
lecture. Check out next week's reading assignments a couple of days
before class.