COMM 351-4

• the outcome of US v. Paramount Pictures. in a 1948 anti-trust case.
• before, 8 studios dominated the film industry,
• most extreme case of vertical integration
• block booking
• artificial scarcity

in order for an independent theater to get the big new studio film with top talent, it also had to agree to take another block of films less desirable.

• 1. who regulates
• 2. what is regulated
• 3. how do regulations have consequences on the products media industries create

• 1. content regulations
• 2. industry structure

self-regulation (informal)

they do not have to. they obtain a license from the FCC and borrow the spectrum that belongs to the public

The public

The FCC does not have power. Rather it has regulatory power over the individual stations that make up the network: affiliates.

Owned and operated stations.

broadcasting and telephony, lately cable industry

Internet and advertising

• informal leads industry workers to perceive certain types of content as more or less commercially viable.
• formal through creation of self-imposed rules limiting or categorizing content.

if it is obscene or indecent.

IF something is obscene: appeals to the prurient interest in sex, portrays sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and which, taken as a whole, do not have serious literary artistic political or scientific value.

where indecent content is allowed because children should be asleep. 10PM-6AM.

language or material that depicts in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium sexual or excretory activities or organs.

• digital reproduction
• digital distribution through peer to peer networks

• criticism
• comment
• news reporting
• teaching
• research

It violates the fair use policy.

a cc license for their work waive some of their rights in order to more easily allow others to share and build on their work still maintaining some of the rights of copyright.

prevent too much consolidation

• the principle that internet service providers do not discriminate among messages or users,
• that they pass along all messages at equal speeds
• that users be able to access all webpages regardless of their service provider.

Restricting the kinds of content the media produce. In hopes of encouraging other kinds of contentex. sesame street

Efforts to encourage the production of certain types of media in approach to media regulation

The Paramount Decree.

When radio a radio DJ stationed in San Francisco exports his music to be played in Austin without letting Austin know it's not local. ex. S Dakota emergency alert failure

$10-15 package cable companies provide, but do not advertise.

• HDTV
• Estimated profit