Law and Disorder in Cyberspace:
Abolish the FCC and Let Common Law Rule the Telecosm

by Peter W. Huber

Table of Contents

Preface    xiii

Acknowledgments    xvii

1. Introduction    3

• The Future And The Past

• Deconstructing The Telecosm

• Common Law for the Telecosm

I. THE FUTURE AND THE PAST

2. Technologies of Freedom    13

• Townships in the Telecosm

• The End of Scarcity

• Deconstructing the Telecosm

• Making Connections

• The Marketplace of Ideas

3. The Commission    24

• Telephone
• The Commission
• Broadcast
• The Commission
• Satellite and Cable
• Townships in the Telecosm
• Orwell in Reverse

4. Into the Labyrinth    35

• Franchising Telephony
• Franchising Equipment
• Zoning Out Computers
• Zoning Out Video
• The Airwaves
• Scarcity
• Zoning Out Bell
• Zoning Out Brokers
• Zoning Content
• Localism
• The Labyrinth
• Apartheid in the Telecosm

II. DECONSTRUCTING THE TELECOSM

5. Cable    51

• Franchising for Profit
• The Exclusive Franchise
• Zoning Out Distant Signals
• Zoning Out Cable Programming
• Separating Broadcast and Cable
• Cablecasting and The First Amendment
• The Inclusive Franchise
• Cable Retransmission and Cable Carriage
• Metamorphosis

6. The Airwaves Unbound    63

• Mirror in the Sky
• Wireless Cable
• Unbroadcasters
• Satellites Dezoned
• Cells
• Broadcasters Dezoned
• Giving Away the Goods
• Selling Un-real Estate
• Privatizing the Airwaves
• The Airwaves As Commons?
• The End of Scarcity

7. Wires Unbound    77

• Terminals Unbound
• Long Distance Unbound
• The Inclusive Local Franchise
• Intelligent Networks
• Video By Phone
• Dark Fiber
• Un-Phone Companies
• Better in the Bahamas

8. Busting Trusts    88

• Closed Networks
• Closed Hardware
• Closed Software
• Content Bottlenecks
• Piling on Patents
• Conspiracy by Commission
• Commission by Decree
• Until the Constable Arrives

9. The Ascent of Competition    103

• Telephony I
• Telephony II
• Video and Data
• From Cheops to Fuller
• Unbundling America

III. MAKING CONNECTIONS

10. Pricing    117

• Carriage
• Broadcast
• Cable
• Video Unbound
• Voice Unbound
• Losing Grip
• Cucumbers and Costa Rica

11. Universal Service    130

• Service by the Commission
• Universal Telephony
• Universal Broadcast
• Universal Cable
• Universal Satellite
• Defending Monopoly
• Losing Control
• The Universal Hamburger

12. Common Carriage    142

• Carriage and Monopoly
• Carriage and Competition
• From Broadcast to Carriage
• The Fairness Doctrine
• Carriage on Cable
• The New Common Law
• Unbundling by Commission
• Carriage by Consent

13. Reassembling the Pieces    155

• One System, One Network
• Broadcast and Cable
• Voice, Video, and Data
• The End of Price Regulation
• The End of Standards
• The Power of One

IV. THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS

14. Free Speech    165

• The Censors Move In
• Scarcity, Ubiquity, and the Constitution
• Scarcity, Ubiquity, and the Audience's Consent
• Common Law
• A Return to the Past

15. Speech for Sale    178

• Copyright and Common Law
• Carriers and Broadcasters
• Cable
• Copyright By Commission
• Signal Piracy and Copy-Tap
• Scrambling

16. Privacy    189

• The Commission in the Chips
• Retail Privacy
• Search and Seizure
• Common Law
• Privatizing Privacy

17. A People's Constitution    199

• State Action
• Deconstructing the Telecosm
• Making Connections
• The Marketplace of Ideas
• Common Law for the Telecosm

Notes    207

Index    259

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© 1999 Peter W. Huber