When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned various restrictions on political spending by corporations in the Citizens United decision, it set off a flurry of activity in Washington. Many, including famously the President in his State of the Union address, derided the decision as opening the political process to the corrupting…
4/29/2010 Several members of Congress led by Senator Schumer and Congressman Van Hollen introduced today the “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections” Act–the DISCLOSE Act. The House and Senate versions differ, with the Senate version vastly expanding eligibility for Lowest Unit Charge, reducing the Lowest Unit…
January 2010 Items of Note in 2010 Biennial Ownership Report Filing Requirements for Commercial Stations: The biennial ownership filing requirement for commercial stations has been stayed indefinitely as of the date of this publication. This stay arose out of difficulties implementing a new version of FCC Form 323 for use…
10/28/2009 Last week the FCC launched a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to adopt six “open Internet” rules that would bind all broadband access providers, including those providing mobile and satellite broadband services. If adopted, the rules could have pervasive and lasting effects in many industry sectors, including broadband,…
9/10/2009 On September 8, 2009, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) of the Department Treasury and the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) of the Department of Commerce issued final rules in the Federal Register amending the Cuba Sanctions program and the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to increase the…
January 2009 The following deadlines are based on information known by us as of the date hereof, may or may not apply to a particular broadcaster, are for general informational purposes only, and should be double-checked for currency close to each pertinent date/deadline. Actions by the FCC, Congress, or the…
September 2008 The FCC released a Declaratory Order on Friday, September 26, 2008, making it clear that the television station cable carriage elections that must be made by October 1, 2008 will determine a station’s carriage rights throughout the entire 2009-2011 carriage election cycle. A PDF version of this entire…
7/25/2008 July 31, 2008 is the deadline by which television stations are required to file claims for copyright royalties with the Copyright Office. FCC rules require television stations to make signal carriage elections by October 1, 2008 for the period 2009-2012. The upcoming termination of analog broadcasts makes this year’s…
January 2008 The following deadlines are based on information known by us as of the date hereof, may or may not apply to a particular broadcaster, are for general informational purposes only, and should be double-checked for currency close to each pertinent date/deadline. The reason is that actions by the…