It dates back to 1996, as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
The decisions are part of a broad trend of media deregulation running through the courts and federal agencies since Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
That's the defense of Clear Channel and other acquisitive radio chains since they were unleashed by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which greatly relaxed national ownership restrictions.
This is why Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and its why after 14 years the FCC desperately needs to bring the hammer down this time.
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For anyone who'd cursed out their cable company, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 promised salvation by allowing competitors to "overbuild" on top of entrenched local cable companies.
This is going to be something that plays out, as Congress begins re-writing the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which is one of the reasons why we're starting to hear about this now.
One would think the FCC had been chastened enough by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, when, to spur competition, Washington forced traditional phone companies to lease their lines at below-market rates to newcomers.
Now we hate all the feet dragging by cable operators in the US as much as the next, and wish the FCC would enforce the Telecommunications Act of 1996 already, but that doesn't mean that everything big cable does is evil, or that the FCC is useless.
Though the stock is off 18% from its 52-week high, shares have more than tripled since the beginning of 1996, when Clear Channel's cofounder L. Lowry Mays took advantage of the Telecommunications Act to gobble up a succession of competitors that included AMFM, Jacor, SFX Entertainment and 26% of Hispanic Broadcasting.
Brent was prosecuted under the Telecommunications Act, relating to the sending of an electronic message.
Nobody likes consolidation because it reminds them, for example, of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, when a few major media companies like Viacom and Clear Channel suddenly had permission to buy up hundreds and hundreds of stations with a result that nobody is particularly happy with commercial radio right now.
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