Telecommunications Act of 1996
The Communications Act of 1934 brought the telephone, telegraph, and the then-fledgling broadcasting industry under the control of the newly created Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The U.S. Congress reasoned that because the radio spectrum was a permanent resource, owned by the citizens of the United States, representatives of the federal government should regulate those that sought to exploit this resource for profit. The 1934 act governed the licensing, operation, and conduct of the broadcast industry for more than sixty-two years.
History
The FCC and its predecessor, the Federal Radio Commission, designed and enforced a system of frequency allocation and transmission regulation to assure the maximum availability of radio service to Americans. When the 1934 act was passed, AM (amplitude modulation) radio was king. Over the years, various amendments were added to the 1934 act as Congress tried to keep up with newly discovered radio spectrum, new transmitting and receiving devices, and the tastes of the American people. For example, when FM (frequency modulation) radio came into being in the 1940s, the FCC attempted to regulate the new service in a manner that would be in the public interest.
Beginning in 1947, the television industry slowly usurped radio's dominance of the American public's in-home entertainment.
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