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"FCC" redirects here. For other uses, see FCC (disambiguation).
| Federal Communications Commission | |
 Logo | |
 The FCC\'s official seal | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | June 19, 1934 |
| Preceding Agency | Federal Radio Commission |
| Agency Executive | Kevin Martin, Chairman |
| Website | |
| www.fcc.gov | |
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a United States government agency, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute (see and ), and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current president.
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 (including radio and television broadcasting), and all interstate telecommunications (wire, satellite and cable) 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 of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.
It is organized into seven Bureaus and ten Staff Offices.
\'The Bureaus’ include processing applications for licenses and other filings, analyzing complaints, conducting investigations, developing and implementing regulations, and participating in hearings.
Contents |
The FCC\'s Offices provide reliable support services to the Bureaus. Even though the Bureaus and Offices have their individual functions, they regularly work together on FCC issues.
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.
In 1940 the Federal Communications Commission issued the "Report on Chain Broadcasting." The major point in the report was the breakup of NBC (National Broadcasting Company), 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.
In 1996 Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act of 1996, in the wake of the break-up of AT&T resulting from the U.S. Justice Department\'s antitrust suit against AT&T. In part, the 1996 legislation attempted to create more competition in local telephone service by requiring Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers to provide access to their facilities for Competitive Local Exchange Carriers.
This policy has thus far had limited success and much criticism. See. e.g. Robert crandall The development of the internet, cable services and wireless services has raised questions whether new legislative initiates are needed as to competition in what has come to be called \'broadband\' services. Congress has monitored developments but not as of 2007 undertaken a major revision of applicable regulation.
The inauguration of Ronald Reagan as President of the United States in 1981 accelerated an already on-going shift in the FCC towards a decidedly more market-oriented stance. A number of regulations felt to be outdated were removed, most controversially the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. The FCC also took steps to increase competition to broadcasters, fostering broadcast alternatives such as cable television.
In the early 2000s, the FCC began stepping up censorship and enforcement of 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.
On June 15, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback, a former broadcaster himself, and endorsed by Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan who authored a similar bill in the United States House of Representatives. The new law stiffens the penalties for each violation of the Act. The Federal Communications Commission will be able to impose fines in the amount of $325,000 for each violation by each station, which violates decency standards. The legislation raises the fine by a tenfold increase.Combs, Roberta. Christian Coalition of America, Washington Weekly Review, June 17, 2006Bill Number S. 193. Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate) from Congressional THOMAS DB. Retrieved on April 11, 2005.
The FCC is directed by five Commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for 5-year terms, except when filling an unexpired term. The President designates one of the Commissioners to serve as Chairperson. Only three Commissioners may be members of the same political party. None of them can have a financial interest in any Commission-related business.FCC Commissioners, Additional Information. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
Chairman Kevin Martin (R-NC), Commissioner Michael Copps (D-WI), Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein (D-SD), Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate (R-TN), Commissioner Robert M. McDowell (R-VA).[citation needed] Three of them are Republicans and two are Democrats. All are appointed by the President.
A complete list of commissioners is available on the FCC website. Notable commissioners have included:
An additional logo
As to radio and television broadcasting, the Federal Communications Commission has one major regulatory weapon, revoking licenses, but short of that has limited leverage. (see FCC MB Docket 04-232). Sanctions run a report-basis system. Additionally, 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 obvious and 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 are ultimately 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.
Similar authority for regulation of U.S. government radio communications is vested in the President who has delegated it to National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
Source: from Federal Standard 1037C
See also: frequency assignment, open spectrum, Ofcom (British equivalent), Mercedes divide, FCC MB Docket 04-232
Regulatory Standards
FCC Part 15
FCC Part 2
FCC part 18
FCC Part 22
FCC Part 74
FCC Part 95
FCC Part 68
FCC Part 73
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 (DTV) 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. Nonetheless, in 2009, all analog terrestrial broadcast licenses in the U.S. will be terminated, with terrestrial television subsequently available only from the digital channels.
Regulatory Standards
FCC Part 15 FCC Part 2 FCC part 18 FCC Part 22 FCC Part 74 FCC Part 95 FCC Part 68 FCC Part 73
The FCC has been criticized on many fronts, both for being too restrictive and too permissive in its regulation. The regulatory body was originally formed in order to allot segments of the radio spectrum which were deemed scarce. Today, the allottment of frequency band segments to specific uses hinders and prevents new spectrum uses for innovative technologies. Regulatory changes can have a dramatic effect on industries. For example, the requirement for televisions to be digital will make millions of analog sets obsolete overnight.
In the actions taken against broadcasters, the FCC is frequently criticized for violating the First Amendment guarantee of Freedom of Speech, both directly by censorship and enforcement action sometimes alleged to be politically motivated, and indirectly by the general intimidation that FCC action allegedly creates, particularly with the U.S. Congress considering increasing fines exponentially.
The FCC considered requiring all broadcasters to retain copies of all broadcasts for up to three months (FCC MB Docket 04-232). One critique of this proposal is that this action would wipe out smaller broadcasters because of the enormous expense of having to purchase new equipment with 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 very low, while allegedly making it nearly impossible for anyone except large corporations or large nonprofit organizations to obtain a license. Although Stephen Dunifer won a case versus the FCC, few others have successfully argued against the Commission.
Another critique is that the Commission has historically been dominated by lawyers, often from the telecommunications industry, due to the FCC\'s direct effects on commerce and public policy. This is in stark contrast to other technically-focused government agencies, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is often populated by engineers and physicists.[citation needed]
The FCC is also often criticized by amateur Radio operators for rule changes affecting the Amateur Radio Service, or for its perceived lack of enforcement of violations within the service and in general.
On the issue of broadcast indecency, the FCC has taken heat from conservatives and family-oriented groups for not sufficiently censoring and restricting sexually explicit and violent material to which the groups believe children should not be exposed (a Family Viewing Hour was instituted in the 1970s and then discontinued).
While the FCC, under much criticism, has been tightening its control and censorship of broadcast television, neither the FCC nor any other regulatory body has the authority to censor the internet, allowing broadcasters to use the internet as a source for their un-edited creative expression. In December 2006, NBC and Saturday Night Live posted an uncensored video on the NBC website and YouTube under the headings “Special Treat in a Box” or “Special Christmas Box”, otherwise known by its uncensored name, "Dick in a Box". The censored version of the video played on NBC\'s Saturday Night Live, and was bleeped (censored) sixteen times. Lorne Michaels, the creator and executive producer of Saturday Night Live, predicted that other shows and networks, time and money permitting, would surely follow NBC’s lead in making available material that was deemed not ready for prime time, or even late night.
The NBC show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip had a story line where the FCC was fining the fictional NBS network an absurd amount of money for an obscenity said by a U.S. Marine during a live news broadcast in Afghanistan. They badmouth the FCC for being upset for a real life reaction of a near death incident in wartime being accidentally picked up in a required News broadcast. (The FCC requires that Educational programming be provided for free by networks in exchange for the right to broadcast over the airwaves.) The problem becomes worse when they give them the option of losing the fee in exchange for a five second delay of live news feeds.
In 2003, the FCC Media Bureau produced a draft report analyzing the impact of deregulation in the radio industry.Fifth Review of the Radio Industry, FCC Media Bureau, undated The report stated that from 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.John Dunbar, Senator says media study suppressed "Senator says media study suppressed", Associated Press, September 18, 2006
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 June 2004, a federal appeals court rejected the agency\'s reasoning on most of the rules and ordered it to try again.)
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.John Dunbar, "Lawyer says FCC ordered study destroyed", Associated Press, September 14, 2006
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.
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 (D-Mass.) 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.”[2]
The character "Broadband" (FCC Kids Zone) 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 (copyright manager) and Fujiko-production (owner of the copyright) have warned the FCC over the alleged copyright infringement, but so far there has been no answer.
With the major demographic shifts occurring in the country in terms of the racial-ethnic composition of the population, where 9 of the 10 largest cities, for example, now have "majority minority" populations, the FCC has also been criticized for ignoring the issue of decreasing racial-ethnic diversity of the media. This includes charges that the FCC has been watering down the limited affirmative action regulations it had on the books, including no longer requiring stations to make public their data on their minority staffing and hiring. In the second half of 2006, groups such as the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the National Latino Media Council, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the National Institute for Latino Policy, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and others held town hall meetings in California, New York and Texas on media diversity as its affects Latinos and other communities of color. They documented widespread and deeply-felt community concerns about the negative effects of media concentration and consolidation on racial-ethnic diversity in staffing and programming. See El Diario La Prensa\'s editorial on media diversity. At these Latino town hall meetings, the issue of the FCC\'s lax monitoring of obscene and pornographic material in Spanish-language radio and the lack of racial and national-origin diversity among Latino staff in Spanish-language television were other major themes.
The FCC database of broadcasting towers [3] is a very useful tool to get information about the height and year built of broadcasting towers in the USA. However, this database does not contain information about the structural types of towers. The FCC database also does not contain information about the height of towers used for non-broadcasting purposes like NDBs, LORAN-C transmission towers or VLF transmission facilities of the US Navy, or from towers not used for transmission at all like the BREN-Tower.
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