Encyclopedia
The
Federal Communications Commission is an independent
United States government agency, created, directed, and empowered by
Congressional statute .
The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 as the successor to the
Federal Radio Commission and is charged with
regulating all non-Federal Government use of the radio
spectrum , and all interstate
telecommunications as well as all international communications that originate or terminate in the United States. It is an important factor in US telecommunication policy.
The FCC took over wire communication regulation from the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.
Organization
The FCC is directed by five Commissioners appointed by the
President and confirmed by the
Senate for five-year terms, except when filling an unexpired term. The President designates one of the Commissioners to serve as Chairman. Only three Commissioners may be members of the same political party. None of them can have a financial interest in any Commission-related business.
As the chief executive officer of the Commission, the Chairman delegates management and administrative responsibility to the Managing Director. The Commissioners supervise all FCC activities, delegating responsibilities to staff units and Bureaus. The current FCC Chairman is Kevin Martin, who replaced Michael Powell. The other current Commissioners are Deborah Taylor Tate, Michael Copps Jonathan Adelstein, and Robert M. McDowell.
Address and Contact Information
The FCC is located at 445 12th Street S.W., Washington, DC 20554. The FCC phone number is 1-888-225-5322. The FCC fax number is 1-866-418-0232. The FCC general email is fccinfo@fcc.gov. The former address of the FCC was 1919 M Street, NW, Washington D.C.
Bureaus
The Bureaus’ responsibilities include processing applications for
licenses and other filings, analyzing complaints, conducting investigations, developing and implementing regulations, and participating in hearings.
Consumer & Governmental Affairs
The Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau develops and implements the FCC's
consumer policies, including
disability access. CGB serves as the public face of the FCC through outreach and education, as well as through our Consumer Center, which is responsible for responding to consumer inquiries and complaints. CGB also maintains collaborative partnerships with state, local, and tribal governments in such critical areas as emergency preparedness and implementation of new technologies.
Enforcement
The Enforcement Bureau is responsible for enforcement of provisions of the Communications Act of 1934, FCC rules, FCC orders, and terms and conditions of station authorizations. Major areas of enforcement that are handled by the Enforcement Bureau are consumer protection, local
competition, public safety, and homeland security.
International
The International Bureau develops international polices in telecommunications, such as coordination of frequency allocation and orbital assignments so as to minimize cases of international electromagnetic interference involving U.S. licensees. The International Bureau also oversees FCC compliance with the international Radio Regulations and other international agreements.
Media
The Media Bureau develops, recommends and administers the policy and licensing programs relating to electronic media, including
cable television, broadcast television, and radio in the United States and its territories. The Media Bureau also handles post-licensing matters regarding direct broadcast satellite service.
Wireless Telecommunications
The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau handles nearly all FCC domestic wireless telecommunications programs, policies, and outreach initiatives. Wireless communications services include
amateur radio,
cellular networks, paging, Personal Communications Service, and others.
Wireline Competition
The Wireline Competition Bureau develops policy concerning wireline telecommunications. The Wireline Competition Bureau’s main objectives are to promote growth and economical investments in wireline technology infrastructure, development, markets, and services.
Public Safety and Security Bureau
A priority of the Ch. Kevin Martin administration is the establishment of the Public Safety and Security Bureau within the FCC. The Bureau has yet to be established, however trade reports indicate that the organization of the new Bureau is in its final stages.
Offices
The FCC's Offices provide support services to the Bureaus. Even though the Bureaus and Offices have their individual functions, they regularly join forces and share expertise in addressing FCC issues.
Administrative Law Judges
The Office of Administrative Law Judges is responsible for conducting hearings ordered by the Commission. The hearing function includes acting on interlocutory requests filed in the proceedings such as petitions to intervene, petitions to enlarge issues, and contested discovery requests. An Administrative Law Judge, appointed under the
Administrative Procedure Act, presides at the hearing during which documents and sworn testimony are received in evidence, and witnesses are cross-examined. At the conclusion of the evidentiary phase of a proceeding, the presiding Administrative Law Judge writes and issues an Initial Decision which may be appealed to the Commission.
Communications Business Opportunities
The Office of Communications Business Opportunities promotes telecommunications business opportunities for small, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses. To this end, OCBO works with entrepreneurs, industry, public interest organizations, individuals, and others to provide information about FCC policies, increase ownership and employment opportunities, foster a diversity of voices and viewpoints over the airwaves, and encourage participation in FCC proceedings.
Engineering & Technology
The Office of Engineering and Technology advises the Commission concerning engineering matters. Its chief role is to manage the
electromagnetic spectrum, specifically frequency allocation and spectrum usage. OET conducts technical studies of advanced phases of terrestrial and space communications and administers FCC rules regarding radio devices, experimental radio services, and industrial, scientific, and medical equipment.
OET also organizes the Technical Advisory Council, a committee of FCC advisors from major
telecommunication and
media corporations.
In addition, the OET operates the Equipment Authorization Branch, which is tasked with overseeing equipment authorization for all devices using the electromagnetic energy from 9KHz to 300GHz. OET maintains an electronic database of all Certified equipment which can be easily accessed by the public.
General Counsel
The Office of General Counsel serves as the chief legal advisor to the Commission. The General Counsel also represents the Commission in litigation in United States federal courts, recommends decisions in adjudicatory matters before the Commission, assists the Commission in its decision making capacity and performs a variety of legal functions regarding internal and other administrative matters.
Inspector General
The Office of the Inspector General recommends policies to prevent fraud in agency operations. The Inspector General recommends corrective action where appropriate, referring criminal matters to the
United States Department of Justice for potential prosecution.
Legislative Affairs
The Office of Legislative Affairs is the FCC’s liaison to the United States Congress, providing lawmakers with information about FCC regulations. OLA also prepares FCC witnesses for Congressional hearings, and helps create FCC responses to legislative proposals and Congressional inquiries. In addition, OLA is a liaison to other Federal agencies, as well as state and local governments.
Managing Director
The Office of the Managing Director is responsible for the administration and management of the FCC, including the agency's budget, personnel, security, contracts, and publications.
Media Relations
The Office of Media Relations is responsible for the dissemination of Commission announcements, orders, proceedings, and other information per media requests. OMR manages the FCC Daily Digest, website, and Audio Visual Center.
Secretary
The Office of the Secretary oversees the receipt and distribution of documents filed by the public through electronic and paper filing systems and the FCC Library collection. In addition, OSEC publishes legal notices of Commission decisions in the
Federal Register and the FCC Record.
Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis
The Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis , essentially a think tank within the FCC, identifies policy objectives for the agency. OSP works closely with the FCC Chairman and is responsible for monitoring the state of the communications industry to identify trends, issues and overall industry health. OSP acts as expert consultants to the Commission in areas of economic, business, and market analysis. The Office also reviews legal trends and developments not necessarily related to current FCC proceedings, such as
intellectual property law, the
Internet, and electronic commerce. Previously OSP was called the Office of Plans and Policy . Robert Pepper, currently with CISCO, was the Chief of OPP from 1989 until 2005.
Workplace Diversity
The Office of Workplace Diversity develops policy to provide a full and fair opportunity for all employees, regardless of non-merit factors such as race, religion, gender, color, age, disability, sexual orientation or national origin, to carry out their duties in the workplace free from unlawful discriminatory treatment, including sexual harassment and retaliation for engaging in legally protected activities.
History
Communications Act of 1934
In 1934 Congress passed the Communications Act, which abolished the Federal Radio Commission and transferred jurisdiction over radio licensing to a new Federal Communications Commission. Title III of the Communications Act contained provisions very similar to the Radio Act of 1927, and the new FCC largely took over the operations and precedents of the FRC.
Report on Chain Broadcasting
In 1940 the Federal Communications Commission issued the "Report on Chain Broadcasting." The major point in the report was the breakup of NBC , but there were two other important points. One was network option time, the culprit here being
CBS. The report limited the amount of time during the day, and what times the networks may broadcast. Previously a network could demand any time it wanted from an affiliate. The second concerned artist bureaus. The networks served as both agents and employees of artists, which was a conflict of interest the report rectified.
Consolidation permissivity, indecency crackdowns
The inauguration of
Ronald Reagan as President of the United States in 1981 marked the beginning of a shift in the FCC towards a decidedly more permissive stance. Monopoly regulations were relaxed so far as to be practically irrelevant, and remaining restrictions were laxly enforced. A substantial portion of other regulations were repealed, such as guidelines for minimal amounts of non-entertainment programming in 1985. In addition, the Fairness Doctrine was removed in 1987. This deregulation has led to the rapid rise in the channel selection offered by broadcast alternatives such as cable television. It has also led to greater concentration of media ownership.
In the early 2000s, the FCC began stepping up censorship and enforcement of so-called indecency regulations again, most notably following the
Janet Jackson "
wardrobe malfunction" that occurred during the halftime show of
Super Bowl XXXVIII. However, the FCC's regulatory domain with respect to indecency remains restricted to the public airwaves, notably VHF and UHF television and AM/FM radio. Because of this "incident" all live television shows are now delayed about 5 seconds for the editors to cut out any profane language or nudity.
FCC Commissioners Since Inception in 1934
Eugene O. Sykes , Thad Brown , Paul Walker , Norman Case , Irvin Stewart , Geoge Henry Payne , Hampson Gary , Anning Prall , T.A.M. Craven , Frank McNinch
Regulatory powers
The Federal Communications Commission has one major regulatory weapon, revoking licenses, but short of that has little leverage over broadcast stations . It is reluctant to do this since it operates in a near vacuum of information on most of the tens of thousands of stations whose licenses are renewed every eight years . Broadcast licenses are supposed to be renewed if the station meets the "public interest, convenience, or necessity." The Federal Communications Commission rarely checks except for some outstanding reason; burden of proof would be on the complainant. Fewer than 1% of station renewals are not immediately granted, and only a small fraction of those actually denied.
The Federal Communications Commission also licenses amateur radio operators and stations, and does use its power to fine amateur radio operators who flagrantly violate its rules. It also licenses commercial operators who operate and repair certain radiotelephone, television,
radar, and
Morse code radio stations. In recent years it has also licensed people who maintain or operate GMDSS stations. While the FCC maintains control of the written and Morse testing standards, it no longer administers the exams, having delegated that function to private organizations.
Note: Similar authority for regulation of U.S. Government radiocommunications is vested in the Presdient who has delegated it to
National Telecommunications and Information Administration .
Source: from Federal Standard 1037C
See also: frequency assignment, open spectrum,
Ofcom , Mercedes divide, FCC MB Docket 04-232
Spectrum auctions
Beginning in 1994, commercial spectrum has been allocated via competitive auctions rather than the previous method of "best public use." This was a cumbersome bureaucratic process in which competitors attempted to show that they were most capable of making best public use of the license they wished to obtain. The structure and licenses available in each auction are determined by vote of the Commission, with the licenses awarded to the highest bidders. Auctions are usually conducted on a simultaneous multiple-round basis, with all offered licenses being auctioned at the same time. Auctions proceed in bidding rounds of decreasing duration until no more bids are received. Revenues are deposited in the
US Treasury to be spent by
Congress.
The FCC has been criticized for awarding a digital TV channel to each holder of an analog TV station license without an auction, as well as trading auctionable spectrum to
Nextel to resolve public safety interference problems.
Criticisms
The FCC has been criticised on many fronts, both for being too restrictive and too permissive in its regulation.
On the issue of broadcast indecency, it has taken heat from right wing conservatives and family-oriented groups for not sufficiently censoring and restricting sexually explicit and violent material to which they believe children should not be exposed .
In the actions the FCC has taken against broadcasters, it is frequently being criticized for violating the
First Amendment guarantee of
Freedom of Speech, both directly by censorship and enforcement action, often politically motivated, and indirectly by the general intimidation it creates, particularly with the
U.S. Congress considering multiplying fines
exponentially. The FCC was even considering forcing all broadcasters to retain everything they broadcast for up to three months which would wipe out smaller broadcasters because of the enormous expenses associated with such a move in terms of having to purchase new equipment that has the necessary features for content storage and the need for facilities to store content.
Low-power broadcasting has also been a source of contention, as the FCC has set the power limits on it extremely low, while making it nearly impossible for anyone except large
corporations or large nonprofit organizations to obtain a license. Stephen Dunifer did win a case versus the FCC, but otherwise few have successfully argued against the commission so far.
Note that cable outlets, such as
Cartoon Network's
Adult Swim, are not governed by the FCC and generally do much less editing.
How much is usually determined by their standards and practices department.
Controversies
Unreleased reports
2003 study of commercial radio concentration
In 2003, the FCC Media Bureau produced a draft report analyzing the impact of deregulation in the radio industry. The report stated thatfrom March 1996 through March 2003, the number of commercial radio stations on the air rose 5.9 percent while the number of station owners fell 35 percent. The concentration of ownership followed a 1996 rewrite of telecommunications law that eliminated a 40-station national ownership cap.
The report was never made public, nor have any similar analyses followed, despite the fact that radio industry reports were released in 1998, 2001 and 2002. In September 2006, Senator
Barbara Boxer, who had received a copy of the report, released it.
2004 study of television media concentration
In 2004, the FCC ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study by Keith Brown and Peter Alexander, two economists in the FCC's Media Bureau. The two had analyzed a database of 4,078 individual news stories broadcast in 1998, showed local ownership of television stations adds almost five and one-half minutes of total news to broadcasts and more than three minutes of "on-location" news.
The conclusion of the study was at odds with FCC arguments made when it voted in 2003 to increase the number of television stations a company could own in a single market.
In September 2006, Senator
Barbara Boxer, who had received a copy of the report "indirectly from someone within the FCC who believed the information should be made public," wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, asked whether any other commissioners "past or present" knew of the report's existence and why it was never made public. She also asked whether it was "shelved because the outcome was not to the liking of some of the commissioners and/or any outside powerful interests?" Boxer's office said if she does not receive adequate answers to her questions, she will push for an investigation by the FCC inspector general.
Action by FCC Chairman
In a letter in response to Senator Boxer, FCC Chairman Martin said "I want to assure you that I too am concerned about what happened to these two draft reports." The letter also said "I have asked the inspector general of the FCC to conduct an investigation into what happened to these draft documents and will cooperate fully with him." Martin added that he was not chairman at the time the reports were drafted, and that neither he nor his staff had seen them.SA Wiretapping
When it emerged in 2006 that AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon may have broken U.S. laws by aiding the National Security Agency in possible illegal wiretapping of its customers, Congressional representatives called for an FCC investigation into whether or not those companies broke the law. The FCC declined to investigate, however, claiming that it could not investigate due to the classified nature of the program -- a move that provoked the criticism of members of Congress.
“Today the watchdog agency that oversees the country’s telecommunications industry refused to investigate the nation’s largest phone companies’ reported disclosure of phone records to the NSA," said Rep. Edward Markey in response to the decision. "The FCC, which oversees the protection of consumer privacy under the Communications Act of 1934, has taken a pass at investigating what is estimated to be the nation’s largest violation of consumer privacy ever to occur. If the oversight body that monitors our nation’s communications is stepping aside then Congress must step in.”
Doraemon
The character "Broadband" looks like Doraemon, a popular manga character in Japan. Doraemon was created for print in magazines in 1969, which makes Doraemon predate the FCC's character. According to Japanese news media, both Shogakukan and Fujiko-production have warned the FCC over the alleged copyright infringement, but so far there has been no answer.
FCC satire
In rapper Eminem's song "Without Me", the FCC was one of the things/people made fun of.
In early 2004, British born Monty Python comic Eric Idle released a profanity-laced protest song, "The FCC Song", in reaction to a fine by the FCC for saying the word "fuck" on a Clear Channel radio station.
Another recent criticism was aired during Family Guy is an American [i] animated comedy [i] created b ...
, November 6, 2005. During the season 4 episode PTV, Peter Griffin created his own television network after finding out that the FCC, taken over by Cobra Commander from the GI Joe franchise, was cracking down on obscenity and censoring his favorite shows . The episode includes an amusing song about the FCC.
In Drawn Together episode Terms of Endearment, the FCC was claimed to be owned by Mickey Mouse, as telling the characters that he will "permanently erase every offensive cartoon ever created, until it's the happiest place on earth!"
Notes
External links
- - a discussion of Spectrum Auctions
