Digital Crossroads: American Telecommunications Policy in the Internet Age (Paperback)

Description

With a new preface for the paperback edition

Telecommunications policy profoundly affects the economy and our everyday lives. Yet accounts of important telecommunications issues tend to be either superficial (and inaccurate) or mired in jargon and technical esoterica. In Digital Crossroads, Jonathan Nuechterlein and Philip Weiser offer a clear, balanced, and accessible analysis of competition policy issues in the telecommunications industry. After giving a big picture overview of the field, they present sharply reasoned analyses of the major technological, economic, and legal developments confronting communications policymakers in the twenty-first century.

Since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, when Congress fundamentally reoriented the existing regulatory scheme, no book has cogently explained the intricacies of telecommunications competition policy in the Internet age for general readers, students, and practitioners alike. Digital Crossroads meets this need, focusing on the regulatory dimensions of competition in wireline and wireless telephone service; competition among rival platforms for broadband Internet service and video distribution; and the Internet's transformation of every aspect of the telecommunications industry, particularly through the emergence of "voice over Internet protocol" (VoIP). The authors explain not just the complicated legal issues governing the industry, but also the rapidly changing technological and economic context in which these issues arise. The book includes extensive endnotes and tables that cover relevant court decisions, FCC orders, and academic commentaries; a glossary of acronyms; a statutory addendum containing the most important provisions of federal telecommunications law; and two appendixes with information on more specialized topics. Supplementary materials for students are available at http://spot.colorado.edu/~weiserpj.

Jonathan E. Nuechterlein is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in Washington, DC. He served as Deputy General Counsel of the FCC in 2000-2001, as Assistant to the Solicitor General in 1996-2000, and as law clerk to US Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter.

Philip J. Weiser is Associate Professor of Law and Telecommunications at the University of Colorado and Executive Director and Founder of the Silicon Flatirons Telecommunications Program. He was principal telecommunications adviser to former Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein during the Clinton administration and previously served as law clerk for US Supreme Court Justices Byron R. White and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements xiii
 
 Preface xv
 
1. The Big Picture 1
 
2. Introduction to Wireline Telecommunications 31
 
3. Wireline Competition Under the 1996 Act 69
 
4. A Primer on Internet Technology 115
 
5. Monopoly Leveraging Concerns and the Internet 149
 
6. VoIP and Proposals for "Horizontal" Regulation 191
 
7. The Spectrum 225
 
8. Mobile Wireless Services 261
 
9. Intercarrier Compensation 291
 
10. Universal Service in the Age of Competition 333
 
11. Competition in the Delivery of Television Programming 357
 
12. Telecommunications Standards, Technological Transitions, and Digital Television 385
 
13. The Future of Telecommunications Policy 407
 
 Appendix A: The Pricing of Network Elements 431
 
 Appendix B: Enforcement Mechanisms Under the 1996 Act 455
 
 Statutory Addendum 461
 
 List of Notable Commentaries 493
 
 Table of Authorities 513
 
 Notes 533
 
 Index 643
 
 Glossary of Acronyms 667 

描述

電信政策深刻地影響著經濟和我們的日常生活。然而，對於重要的電信問題的描述往往要麼膚淺（且不準確），要麼陷入行業術語和技術專有名詞中。在《數字十字路口》中，喬納森·紐切特萊因（Jonathan Nuechterlein）和菲利普·韋瑟（Philip Weiser）提供了一個清晰、平衡和易於理解的分析，關於電信行業競爭政策問題。在概述了該領域的整體情況之後，他們對二十一世紀通信政策制定者面臨的主要技術、經濟和法律發展進行了深入的分析。

自1996年電信法通過以來，國會徹底改變了現有的監管體制，沒有一本書能夠清晰地解釋互聯網時代的電信競爭政策的細節，以滿足一般讀者、學生和從業人員的需求。《數字十字路口》滿足了這一需求，重點關注有線和無線電話服務的競爭監管維度；寬帶互聯網服務和視頻分發的競爭平台之間的競爭；以及互聯網通過“互聯網協議語音”（VoIP）的出現徹底改變了電信行業的各個方面。作者不僅解釋了監管行業的複雜法律問題，還解釋了這些問題出現的快速變化的技術和經濟背景。該書包括廣泛的註釋和表格，涵蓋相關的法院判決、聯邦通信委員會的命令和學術評論；縮略語詞彙表；一個包含聯邦電信法最重要條款的法定附錄；以及兩個附錄，提供有關更專門主題的信息。學生的補充材料可在http://spot.colorado.edu/~weiserpj上獲得。

喬納森·E·紐切特萊因（Jonathan E. Nuechterlein）是華盛頓特區Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP的合夥人。他在2000年至2001年擔任聯邦通信委員會的副總法律顧問，1996年至2000年擔任美國最高法院大法官大衛·H·蘇特爾（David H. Souter）的法律助理。

菲利普·J·韋瑟（Philip J. Weiser）是科羅拉多大學法學院和Silicon Flatirons電信計劃的副教授。他曾是克林頓政府時期前助理司法部長喬爾·克萊因（Joel Klein）的主要電信顧問，並曾擔任美國最高法院大法官拜倫·R·懷特（Byron R. White）和露絲·貝德·金斯伯格（Ruth Bader Ginsburg）的法律助理。

目錄

致謝 xiii
前言 xv
1. 大局觀 1
2. 有線電信簡介 31
3. 1996年法案下的有線競爭 69
4. 互聯網技術入門 115
5. 壟斷槓桿問題和互聯網 149
6. VoIP和“水平”監管提案```