1. Identify relevant and enduring telecom law concepts and arguments. Telecommunications technologies are defined by innovation and change. Telecommunications policy, however, is defined by certain enduring and recurring arguments and concepts. The first priority of the course is to teach the key concepts and attendant arguments that are frequently articulated in the area of telecommunications law.
2. Analyze telecom in an interdisciplinary manner. The course will emphasize the intersection of economics, technology, policy and law. Economic forces – such as economies of scale and network effects – powerfully shape the incentives of telecommunications firms and customers. Meanwhile, technology innovation has enabled intelligence at the edges, mobile communications, and cross-platform competition which simply didn’t exist 20 years ago. A theme of this course is that principled policy-making must be informed by technology and economics.
3. Detail the power, procedures, and institutional competence of significant entities setting forth telecommunications law and policy. This course addresses the respective roles of Congress, the FCC, and the courts. We also consider the emerging functions performed by international entities, including governments, industry groups and standard setting bodies. In the United States, calls for statutory reform (e.g., rewrite the Communications Act of 1934) and administrative reform (e.g., rethink the role of the FCC) are common. The course analyzes the status quo approach to telecommunications as well as certain reform proposals in an intellectually honest manner.

Required