Federal Communications Commission
The FCC maintains jurisdiction over the areas of broadband access, fair competition, radio frequency use, media responsibility, public safety, and homeland security.§151), is to "make available so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, rapid, efficient, nationwide, and world-wide wire and radio communication services with adequate facilities at reasonable charges."Bureaus process applications for licenses and other filings, analyze complaints, conduct investigations, develop and implement regulations, and participate in hearings.[18] In 1941, the Federal Communications Commission issued the "Report on Chain Broadcasting" which was led by new FCC chairman James Lawrence Fly (and Telford Taylor as general counsel).The result was that financially marginal DuMont was spending as much in long-line charge as CBS or NBC while using only about 10 to 15 percent of the time and mileage of either larger network.The Sixth Report and Order required some existing television stations to change channels, but only a few existing VHF stations were required to move to UHF, and a handful of VHF channels were deleted altogether in smaller media markets like Peoria, Fresno, Bakersfield and Fort Wayne, Indiana to create markets which were UHF "islands".The Supreme Court has repeatedly held, beginning soon after the passage of the Communications Act of 1934, that the inherent scarcity of radio spectrum allows the government to impose some types of content restrictions on broadcast license holders notwithstanding the First Amendment.[43] Cable and satellite providers are also subject to some content regulations under Title VI of the Communications Act such as the prohibition on obscenity, although the limitations are not as restrictive compared to broadcast stations.[45][46] After the 1990s had passed, the FCC began to increase its censorship and enforcement of indecency regulations in the early 2000s to include a response to the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" that occurred during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII.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.President Barack Obama appointed Mark Lloyd to the FCC in the newly created post of associate general counsel/chief diversity officer.In August 2015, the FCC said that nearly 55 million Americans did not have access to broadband capable of delivering high-quality voice, data, graphics and video offerings.[58] On February 26, 2015, the FCC reclassified broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service, thus subjecting it to Title II regulation, although several exemptions were also created.[59] On August 1, 2008, the FCC formally voted 3-to-2 to uphold a complaint against Comcast, the largest cable company in the US, ruling that it had illegally inhibited users of its high-speed Internet service from using file-sharing software.FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin said the order was meant to set a precedent that Internet providers, and indeed all communications companies, could not prevent customers from using their networks the way they see fit unless there is a good reason.In an interview Martin stated that "We are preserving the open character of the Internet" and "We are saying that network operators can't block people from getting access to any content and any applications.""[60] The Comcast case highlighted broader issues of whether new legislation is needed to force Internet providers to maintain net neutrality, i.e. treat all uses of their networks equally."[63] After these setbacks in court, in April 2014 the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding a path forward for The Open Internet Order."[72] According to a Washington Post poll, 81% of Americans supported net neutrality in 2014, with 81% of Democrats and 85% of Republicans saying they opposed allowing Internet providers to charge websites for faster speeds.[77][78] On April 27, 2017, FCC chairman Ajit Pai released a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would revise the legal foundation for the agency's Open Internet regulations.[81][82] However, in April 2024, the FCC re-adopted the net neutrality rules by 3–2 vote, prohibiting internet service providers from blocking or limiting user access, reviving the regulations repealed in 2017.[83] On January 2, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the FCC lacked the authority to adopt net neutrality regulations in April 2024.However, in recent decades the FCC has also opened some spectrum bands for unlicensed operations, typically restricting them to low power levels conducive to short-range applications.This has facilitated the development of a very wide range of common technologies from wireless garage door openers, cordless phones, and baby monitors to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth among others."[89][better source needed] Cell phone providers such as T-Mobile US have mounted pressure on the FCC to instead offer up the white space for sale to boost competition and market leverage.While the FCC maintains control of the written testing standards, it no longer administers the exams, having delegated that function to private volunteer organizations.Unlike competing standards, the ATSC system is encumbered by numerous patents, and therefore royalties that make TV sets and DTV converters much more expensive than in the rest of the world.[97] (Under the subsidiary communications authority principle, FM stations could in theory use any in-band on-channel digital system of their choosing; a competing service, FMeXtra, briefly gained some traction in the early 21st century but has since been discontinued.)That year the federal government's National Recovery Agency (associated with the New Deal period) held public hearings as a part of its deliberations over the creation of new broadcasting codes.], the FCC held hearings to address early cross-ownership issues; specifically, whether newspaper companies owning radio stations was in the public interest.
FCC (disambiguation)Federal Radio CommissionFederal government of the United StatesWashington, D.C.Brendan CarrChairmanindependent agency of the United States governmenttelevisionsatellitebroadband accessfair competitionhomeland securityCommunications Act of 1934wire communicationInterstate Commerce CommissionDistrict of Columbiaterritories of the United StatesTelecommunications Act of 1996president of the United StatesUnited States Senatepolitical partyhearingsconsumer policiesdisability accesselectronic mediacable televisionbroadcast televisiondirect broadcast satellitewire lineinterlocutory requestsAdministrative Procedure Actminority-ownedentrepreneurselectromagnetic spectrumTechnical Advisory CounciltelecommunicationsUnited States federal courtsUnited States Department of JusticeFederal Registersexual harassmentGeneral Services AdministrationPennsylvania AvenueFrank R. McNinchPaul Atlee WalkerT.A.M. CravenThad H. BrownNorman S. CaseGeorge Henry PayneCommunications ActRadio Act of 1927Report on Chain BroadcastingJames Lawrence FlyTelford TaylorNational Broadcasting CompanyAmerican Broadcasting CompanyColumbia Broadcasting SystemNetwork affiliateWorld War IIRosel H. HydeDuMontAmerican Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T)long linesmedia marketsPeoriaFresnoBakersfieldeducational televisionAll-Channel Receiver ActDenverEdwin JohnsonInterstate and Foreign Commerce CommitteeKWGN-TVbreakupIncumbent Local Exchange CarriersCompetitive Local Exchange CarriersLocal Community Radio Act111th Congresschief information officerinformation technologyJessica RosenworcelSatellite Internet accessList of chairs of the Federal Communications CommissionGeoffrey StarksNathan SimingtonAnna M. GomezEugene O. SykesMississippiDemocraticRepublicanPaul A. WalkerOklahomaRhode IslandIrvin StewartNew YorkHampson GaryFrieda B. HennockEugene Octave SykesAnning Smith PrallFrederick I. ThompsonRay C. WakefieldClifford DurrE. K. JettIndependentPaul A. PorterCharles R. DennyWilliam Henry WillsRobert Franklin JonesWayne CoyRobert T. BartleyEugene H. MerrillJohn C. DoerferRobert E. LeeGeorge McConnaugheyFrederick W. FordNewton N. MinowE. William HenryKenneth A. CoxLee LoevingerJames Jeremiah WadsworthNicholas JohnsonH. Rex LeeDean BurchCharlotte Thompson ReidRichard E. WileyBenjamin HooksJames Henry Quello