Communications Law in the Public Interest

BOOKMARK

Authors

Allen Hammond
Catherine Sandoval
Leonard Baynes

Series / Aspen Casebook Series

BOOKMARK

Book length

718 pages

Publication Date

2020-10-19

Description

Looking through a historical lens, this new casebook examines the evolution of telecommunication law, policy, and technology from the telegraph to the Internet. It examines six key industries: broadcast, cable TV, telephone, satellite, wireless, and the Internet. The book’s novel format begins with introductory chapters analyzing the nature of spectrum and regulation of spectrum-based services and the history and technology that link the regulation of telegraph-to-telephone-to-the-Internet.

This casebook analyzes conceptions of the public interest as defined by statute, case law, and FCC and state decision-making. It contrasts the legal and economic standards used by antitrust law as compared to communications law. It examines telecommunication regulation through the lens of five key concepts: functionality, ownership or licensing, access, speech, and the public interest. The casebook offers projects and hypotheticals that support analysis of issues from the perspective of constitutional, administrative and communications law, as well as statutory issues raised by communications and information technology regulation.

Professors and students will benefit from:

A mix of theoretical and practical readings that build understanding of telecommunications technology, law, and regulation.
A format friendly to both in-person and online teaching and study. Offering a combination of text, PowerPoint slides, links to video materials, and commentary that can be shared with students or used by the professor, the casebook includes projects students can generate and share through a live or online class.
Historical perspective of federal and state communications policy beginning with the creation of the telegraph system, through the evolution and growth of the telephone system, the growth of broadcasting, cable, and satellite, and the growth of the Internet and Internet of Things.
Knowledge and skills to recognize and litigate statutory, constitutional, Administrative Procedures Act, and other legal issues.
Legislative and regulatory drafting, analysis, and decision-making skills, consistent with legal standards.
Case and regulatory analysis, questions and projects that support writing, experiential, or exam-based courses and the production of student papers and presentations.
Student skill-building to file comments in FCC and state communications regulatory decision-making dockets, and to file amicus briefs for legal cases.

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About the authors

Allen S. Hammond

Phil and Bobbie Sanfilippo Chair and Professor of Law

Santa Clara University School of Law

Phil and Bobbie Sanfilippo Chair and Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law (SCU Law). Professor Hammond serves as Co-Director of the SCU Law’s Broadband Institute of California and High-Tech Law Institute and is the Director of the Law and Public Policy Program at SCU’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society. He was a faculty member at Syracuse University College of Law and the New York Law School prior to joining the SCU Law Faculty. Previously, he served as an attorney at the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy and program manager at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; as in-house counsel for WJLA-TV, MCI Communications, and Satellite Business Systems; and as a public interest attorney at the Media Access Project. Professor Hammond has authored over 20 law review articles and book chapters on communications law and Internet issues, including two studies submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Professor Hammond is a board member of the ACLU of Northern California, former president of the Alliance for Public Technology, a past chair and member of the AT&T Telecommunications Consumer Advisory Panel, and has advised numerous community-based organizations. Professor Hammond received his B.A. from Grinnell College; M.A. from the Annenberg School of Communications, University of Pennsylvania; and J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

Catherine Sandoval

Associate Professor

Santa Clara University School of Law

Associate Professor, Santa Clara University School of Law. Professor Sandoval serves as Co-Director of SCU Law’s Broadband Institute of California and High-Tech Law Institute and as the Director of SCU Law’s legal studies program at Oxford University. Professor Sandoval has authored over 12 scholarly articles and book chapters on communications, energy, and antitrust law. Her scholarly work and expertise have been cited more than 200 times, including by the FCC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. The D.C. Circuit in Mozilla v. FCC (2019) cited Professor Sandoval’s comments to support its remand of the FCC’s 2018 net neutrality repeal for the FCC’s failure to address the public safety issues she raised in the record.

She served a six-year term as a commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission, appointed by Governor Brown. For more than five years she served as director and previously as deputy director of the FCC’s Office of Communications Business Opportunities. Professor Sandoval testified to Congress in January 2020 regarding initiatives to increase minority media ownership. She earned a B.A. from Yale University; a Master of Letters from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar; and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Leonard M. Baynes

Professor and Dean

University of Houston

Dean and Professor, University of Houston Law Center. Dean Baynes has authored more than 25 law review articles on corporate law, communications law, and diversity and has been cited approximately 300 times. Professor Baynes was previously a member of the St. John’s Law School faculty, where he served as director of the Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights. While a faculty member at Western New England University School of Law, Professor Baynes served as a scholar-in-residence at the Federal Communications Commission and worked on communications access and spectrum licensing issues.

Dean Baynes has received multiple awards for his commitment to the community and service, including awards from the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council Hall of Fame, the New York State Bar Association, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc., the National Black Pre-Law Conference, and the National Diversity Council. In 2020, Baynes was named to the Lawyers of Color Power List by the Lawyers of Color Foundation. Dean Baynes earned his B.S. at New York University Stern School of Business, his M.B.A. at Columbia Graduate School of Business, and his J.D. at Columbia Law School.

Product Information

Publication date

2020-10-19

Pages

718

Hardcover

9780735570856

Subject

Computer and Cyberlaw , Science, Technology, and the Law

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$352.00

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