Digital Crossroads, Second Edition, 2e

Telecommunications Law and Policy in the Internet Age

by Nuechterlein, Weiser

ISBN: 9780262315579 | Copyright 2013

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In Digital Crossroads , two experts on telecommunications policy offer a comprehensive and accessible analysis of the regulation of competition in the U.S. telecommunications industry. The first edition of Digital Crossroads (MIT Press, 2005) became an essential and uniquely readable guide for policymakers, lawyers, scholars, and students in a fast-moving and complex policy field. In this second edition, the authors have revised every section of every chapter to reflect the evolution in industry structure, technology, and regulatory strategy since 2005.

The book features entirely new discussions of such topics as the explosive development of the mobile broadband ecosystem; incentive auctions and other recent spectrum policy initiatives; the FCC’s net neutrality rules; the National Broadband Plan; the declining relevance of the traditional public switched telephone network; and the policy response to online video services and their potential to transform the way Americans watch television. Like its predecessor, this new edition of Digital Crossroads not only helps nonspecialists climb this field’s formidable learning curve, but also makes substantive contributions to ongoing policy debates.

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Contents (pg. 7)
Acknowledgments (pg. 13)
Preface to the Second Edition (pg. 15)
Preface to the First Edition (pg. 17)
1 The Big Picture (pg. 21)
I. Economic Principles (pg. 23)
II. Technological Convergence and Statutory Obsolescence (pg. 37)
2 Competition Policy in Wireline Telecommunications (pg. 43)
I. A Primer on Wireline Technology (pg. 43)
II. Traditional Telephone Rate Regulation (pg. 52)
III. Wireline Competition Policy Before 1996 (pg. 60)
IV. Wireline Competition Under the 1996 Act (pg. 71)
V. The Twilight of Monopoly-Era Regulation (pg. 94)
3 The Spectrum (pg. 103)
I. Overview (pg. 105)
II. The Nuts and Bolts of Spectrum Allocation and Assignment (pg. 109)
III. Liberating the Airwaves (pg. 116)
IV. The Future of Interference Policy (pg. 137)
4 Mobile Wireless Services (pg. 147)
I. The Basics of Cellular Technology (pg. 148)
II. The Regulatory Landscape (pg. 153)
III. Competition Policy for the Wireless Broadband Ecosystem (pg. 162)
5 A Primer on Internet Technology (pg. 179)
I. The Basics (pg. 179)
II. The Internet’s Physical Infrastructure (pg. 195)
6 Net Neutrality and the Regulation of Broadband Internet Access (pg. 207)
I. The Historical Origins of the Net Neutrality Movement (pg. 208)
II. The Net Neutrality Debate (pg. 216)
III. Title I, Title II, and the Limits of FCC Power (pg. 250)
7 Interconnection and Intercarrier Compensation (pg. 263)
I. The Historical Crazy Quilt of Intercarrier Compensation Schemes (pg. 264)
II. The Rise of Bill-and-Keep as the Cornerstone of Intercarrier Compensation Reform (pg. 283)
III. The USF–ICC Reform Order and the 1996 Act (pg. 294)
IV. After the PSTN Sunset: Interconnection Policy in an All-IP World (pg. 299)
8 Universal Service in the Age of Broadband (pg. 315)
I. Introduction to the Political Dynamics of Universal Service (pg. 317)
II. Federal USF Disbursement Mechanisms (pg. 321)
III. Federal USF Contribution Mechanisms (pg. 334)
9 Competition in the Delivery of Video Programming (pg. 347)
I. The Basics of the Video-Distribution Marketplace (pg. 349)
II. Regulation of Relationships among Video-Distribution Platforms (pg. 355)
III. Efforts to Protect Programming Competition and Diversity through Vertical Regulation of Broadcast Networks and MVPDs (pg. 372)
IV. Restrictions on Ownership of Television Broadcast Stations (pg. 379)
10 The Future of TelecommunicationsCompetition Policy (pg. 385)
I. First Principles of Institutional Reform (pg. 387)
II. Judging Congress (pg. 389)
III. The Antitrust Alternative (pg. 391)
IV. The FCC in Transition (pg. 396)
Notes (pg. 409)
Index (pg. 509)

Jonathan E. Nuechterlein

Jonathan E. Nuechterlein is a Washington, D.C.-based attorney with broad experience in government and the private sector. He is currently General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission; before that, he served as chair of the telecommunications practice at the international law firm of WilmerHale, as Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, and as Assistant to the Solicitor General.


Philip J. Weiser

Philip J. Weiser is Hatfield Professor of Law and Founder Executive Director of the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship.

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