Chapters 8-12 Flashcards
Radio Act of 1912
1) Radio is regulated by the Secretary of Commerce
2) Operators must get licenses
3) Stations must be assigned a frequency
Radio Act of 1927
Established the FRC
Communications Act of 1934
Established the FCC
Fairness Doctrine
Equal Time for Opposing Views, revoked in 1987
Equal Time Doctrine
Equal Time for Political Candidates
Red Lion v. FCC
Established the Equal Time Opposing Views
Four Reasons Broadcast Media is Regulated More than Print
1) Spectrum Scarcity
2) Public Trusteeship
3) Pervasiveness
4) Spectrum Impact
Structural Regulations of Broadcast
1) FCC limits the number of stations a company may own.
2) Limit the kinds of business a licensee may engage in.
Powers of the FCC
Judicial - Administrative Hearings
Legislative - Establish Rules
Executive - Enforce Rules
FCC v. WNCN Listener’s Guild
You can change the format of your stations without permission
Telecommunications Act of 1996
De-regulated broadcast communications, resulted in the consolidation of different companies
Requires to installation of the V-chip and the scrambling of Adult Content
Safe Harbor Hours
10 p.m. - 6 a.m.
Hours that broadcast television regulations are relaxed.
Indecency
Patently offensive to the contemporary public
Children’s Television Act of 1990
Requires broadcast stations to provide children’s programming and encourages public service announcements
Requires at least 3 hours of children’s programming
The V-Chip
Parental Control Chip for Televisions
Broadcast TV Rating System
Congress mandates the development of a rating system, but not the participation thereof.
Political Ad Exceptions for Equal Time Doctrine
1) Appearance on the News Event
2) Appearance on Regularly Scheduled News Casts
3) Appearance on a Regularly Scheduled News Interview
4) Appearance on a News Documentary Prgram
EEOC
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Regulates employment discrimination
US v. Southwestern Cable (1968)
Established the FCC’s ability to regulate cable
Leathers v. Medlock (1991)
Establishes that Cable is 1st Amendment Speech
Turner Broadcasting System Inc. v. FCC (1994)
Establishes the idea that regulations on Cable TV content must past Strict Scrutiny
Must-Carry Rule
Locally licensed TV must be carried on cable
Four Potential Lawsuit Areas for Social Media
1) Company Secrets
2) Defamation
3) Trademark Violations
4) Wrongful Termination
Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition
Cannot ban virtual child pornography under the child pornography protective act of 1996
US v. American Library Association
Restrict people’s access to certain sites on library computers
Bland v. Roberts
Facebook “Liking” is protected under the 1st Amendment
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
Various attempts to protect copyright contents
Kyllo v. US
Unconstitutional to use a FLIR to scan someone’s house to find probable cause and issue a warrant.
Ontario v. Quon
Your workplace can monitor communication on devices they issue.
Valentine v. Chrestensen
Commercial speech can be regulated by the government and is not protected under the 1st amendment
Martin v. City of Struthers
Supreme Court struck down a bill that prohibited Jehovah’s Witnesses from passing out handbills door-to-door
Breard v. City of Alexandria
Established the government’s ability to regulate commercial door-to-door solicitatoin
FTC v. colgate-palmolive
Established the government’s ability to regulate materially deceptive commercials
Bigelow v. Virginia
Established the protection of Advertisements under the 1st Amendment given that the advertisement is true and in the public’s interest, and is more than just a commercial transaction
Virginia Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizen’s Consumer Council
Supreme Court struck down a ban of prescription drug advertisements. The public has an interest in the free flow of information.
First National Bank v. Bellotti
Establishes a corporation’s right to make political contributions
Central Hudson Gas/Electric v. Public Services Commission
New York proposes a bill to ban electrical advertisements during an energy crisis. Supreme Court establishes that this is unconstitutional and creates a four part test for advertisement laws.
Four-part test for commercial advertisement (AKA Central Hudson Test)
1) Is the expression protected by the First Amendment?
2) Is there substantial government interest in the expression at hand?
3) Does the regulation directly advance the governmental interest asserted?
4) Is the regulation more extensive than is necessary to serve that interest?
SUNY v. Fox
The method to regulate commercial expression must be narrowly tailored and directly serves the goal at hand.
Posadas de Puerto Rico v. Tourism Co.
This case allows the government to regulate the commercial advertisement of gambling activities. Will later be used as precedence for the regulation of other activities and products related to gambling to include the sale of Alcohol and Tobacco
Rubin v. Coors Brewing
The Supreme Court allows beer companies to advertise their alcohol content on their products. Ruled that the former regulation did not directly advance the governmental interest.
LiquorMart v. Rhode Island
The Supreme Court struck down a notion by Rhode Island to ban the advertisement of alcohol prices because it violated the third part of the Central Hudson Test.
Lorillard v. Reilly
The Supreme Court struck down a notion by Massachusetts for a ban of Tobacco advertisements within 1000 ft. of Schools and Playgrounds because it violated the fourth part of the Central Hudson Test.
Lanham Act
Allows companies to sue other companies if they can prove that they suffered a commercial harm through falsehood.
Self-regulation
The practice of avoiding governmental supervision by establishing internal checks on content such as the MSRB and TV Parental Guidelines.
O’ Hagan v. United States
Personnel are still considered an insider even if they are not directly working on a specific case if they are part of that organization.
Negligence Tort
Tort as a result of negligence
Intentional Tort
Tort as a result of intentional actions
Strict Liability Torts
Torts that imposes liability without establishing fault. The Claimant only needs to establish that a tort occurred and that the defendant was responsible.
Albright v. Upjohn Co.
Public Relations practitioners must inform the public of the harmful nature of commercial products.
Parts to a Negligence Tort
- Defendant must owe the plaintiff a “duty of care”
- Defendant must have breached the “duty of care”
- Plaintiff must have been injured or harmed
- The breach must have caused the harm
Product Liability
If you sell a product, you are liable for what it does and whether or not it’s defective.
Four parts of fraudulent misrepresentation
1) a false statement that is material - substantially central to a person’s decision
2) knowledge of that falsity on the part of the communicator
3) an intention to induce others to make economic decisions based upon the statement
4) damages caused by reliance on the statement
Four parts of interference in a Business Relationship
1) There was some sort of a contractual or beneficial business relationship between two parties
2) The defendant was aware of the relationship
3) the defendant intentionally caused a breach in that relationship
4) damage resulted
Four parts of a contract
1) Offer - representation in either oral or written form that binds the parties to certain obligations and provides them with given rights
2) Consideration - the price or value that is exchanged by both parties
3) Acceptance - act of where the offeree accepts the terms of agreement by the offeror in traditional forms
4) Mutuality - both parties must come to understand the terms and provisions of a contract
Buckley v. Valeo
Campaign expenditures are protected under the 1st Amendment although contributions may be limited.
Nike v. Kasky
Established that a corporation’s communications is considered commercial speech and is subject to regulation.
Pacifica v. FCC
Established the powers of the FCC over indecent material as applied to broadcasting.
ESRB
Entertainment Software Ratings Board
A self-regulatory organization that assigns assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games.
DBS
Direct Broadcasting Satellite
DirectTV and The Dish Network
