PREFACE
Jonathan S. Adelstein

EXTENDING THE PRIVILEGE TO LITIGATION COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALISTS IN THE AGE OF TRIAL BY MEDIA
Steven B. Hantler, Victor E. Schwartz, and Phil S. Goldberg
Given the ever increasing impact of media coverage on lawsuits, there is a certain urgency in determining how an attorney should navigate this development to the benefit of his/her client. However, most lawyers are more comfortable drafting a brief than developing a media strategy. This underscores the need for firms and attorneys alike to employ public relations professionals adept at litigation communications. These individuals understand how the proceedings in the courtroom will be conveyed in the media and thus can provide advice that will benefit the client. In order for this to be an effective endeavor, courts will have to extend the attorney-client and work product privileges to cover these outside communications personnel. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has already taken this step and it is the hope that other courts will follow their lead. Considering the bias in favor of plaintiffs in civil cases, this extension will allow defendants and their defense counsel to be proactive and promote a more balanced portrayal of the controversy in the court of public opinion.

THE LAW OF PROPERTY AND THE LAW OF SPECTRUM: A CRITICAL COMPARISON
John Berresford and Wayne Leighton
This article begins by noting the current debate over whether spectrum should be part of the political process and treated as ?The People?s Airwaves? or should it be treated as private property under a market-driven approach. Berresford and Leighton believe that spectrum policy should be governed by rules akin to those of private property. In support of their argument, they highlight all of the similarities that spectrum and private property share, such as the ?first in time? rule, noting that, for instance, like private property, spectrum will usually be awarded to the first licensee by the Federal Communications Commission. The article concludes by addressing the ways in which treating spectrum as a property right will work to make the current system more efficient and user-friendly. As the authors note, they are calling for ?bold, persistent experimentation? to be achieved by using traditional property laws to govern spectrum.

SIGNALING SYSTEM SEVEN: A CASE STUDY IN LOCAL TELEPHONE COMPETITION
Shannon Heim
This article examines the evolution of competition in the local market through a case study of Signaling System Seven (SS7), which is the dominant protocol used to run the signaling networks that enables todays rapid and complex communications. Signaling was one of the original network elements Congress identified as "essential" for purposes of opening up the telecommunications market to competition. The article explores the history of local competition from the MFJ to the TRO, using SS7 as a concrete example of the effects of the regulatory environment. Using SS7 as an example of competitive success, the article queries why other services have failed to mature in such a manner. The article concludes that the success of SS7 is a testament that building redundant networks as alternatives to RBOC networks is not necessarily a waste of resources or a harm to competition.

ACHIEVING THE GOAL OF UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES GLOBALLY
Jennifer A. Manner
While the United States has long supported a goal of achieving access to advanced telecommunications for all its citizens, this is not the case in many other countries and international communities. Thus, in her article, Manner argues that countries, throughout the world, need to adopt a policy of universal access to allow people to partake in the benefits and improved quality of life that telecommunications can bring. In order to achieve universal access, countries must adopt five core regulatory principles: competition, creation of an independent regulator, technology neutrality, customer education, and enforcement. Manner cites specific examples of countries, such as Gambia and Jamaica, who are working to achieve access to basic and advanced telecommunications services for their inhabitants. Ultimately, though, universal access can only be realized through competition and market-based policies if everyone is to benefit from telecommunications services.

MCCONNELL V. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION: THE SUPREME COURT REWRITES THE BOOK ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW WILL POLITICAL SPEECH SURVIVE THIS MOST RECENT ONSLAUGHT?
Brendan T. Holloway
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (?McCain-Feingold?) permanently changed the American political landscape in the spring of 2002. Written to curb the proliferation and influence of ?soft money,? or large unregulated contributions to national parties, ?McCain-Feingold? closed the major loopholes in campaign finance law that had developed since the Supreme Court?s landmark ruling in Buckley v. Valeo. In this note, Holloway argues that the Supreme Court severely limited the First Amendment right to Free Speech when it upheld the Constitutionality of ?McCain-Feingold? in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission. In that case, the Court upheld limitations upon both the amount of money donated to political parties and the Constitutionality of banning so-called ?issue-ads? thirty-days prior to elections. Holloway contends that in doing so the Supreme Court misread the true meaning of its decision in Buckley by assuming ?soft-money? was corrupting the political system. By misapplying Buckley as precedential upon McConnell the Supreme Court has opened the door for special interest groups to take over the political discourse. For Holloway, money talks, and since McConnell fewer voices have been heard.

WHAT THE #$ IS HAPPENING ON TELEVISION? INDECENCY IN BROADCASTING
Treasa Chidester
In the wake of the popular reaction to the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction and the increasing frequency of broadcasted foul language, Chidester examines several mechanisms designed to limit broadcasts of indecent material. The Comment maps out free speech jurisprudence as it is applied to television and radio, and then explores practical, regulatory, and legislative devices intended to control indecent speech. The author discusses the effectiveness of the current role played by the Federal Communication Commissions before turning to an evaluation of proposed legislation. Chidester argues that the Clean Airwaves Act and a similar Senate proposal are functionally prior restraints on speech, and emphasizes the need for Congress to adjust policies toward motivating broadcasters to play a more substantial role in controlling the decency of television and radio broadcasts.

PRINCIPLES OR PUFFERY? THE VALIDITY OF THE CABLE INDUSTRY?S DUAL CARRIAGE ARGUMENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON PUBLIC TELEVISION IN THE DIGITAL TELEVISION FUTURE
Dionne McNeff
Digital television will change the way that the average American sees the world, but what he or she sees is being called seriously into doubt by cable operators around the country. As the television industry faces its most difficult technological changeover since the movement to color, the continuing relevance of noncommercial educational broadcasters, such as PBS, is called further into doubt. Should cable carriers be mandated to continue to carry both analog and digital public television signals, just as they are for local network programming? In answering that question, McNeff balances the cable broadcaster?s First Amendment rights against the public?s interest in noncommercial educational programming. McNeff argues that the Federal Communications Commission?s wrongly interpreted its own statutory authority by ruling that cable broadcasters did not have to carry both signals simultaneously during the transitional period to wide-spread adoption of digital television. By not directing dual-carry, the FCC has opened the door to permanent and irreversible damage to noncommercial educational broadcasting in the United States, and forcing many smaller public broadcasters from out of the televisions of their viewers.

THE TAX MAN COMETH? AN ARGUMENT FOR THE TAXATION OF ONLINE PURCHASES
Sean Nehill
Perhaps no other arena of human interaction has been so fundamentally changed by the rise of the Worldwide Web as the way in which people do business. Electronic commerce, or ?e-commerce,? continues to grow as a large and important aspect of our daily life. Yet, because of the Supreme Court?s Due Process jurisprudence, many of these interstate transactions performed over the Internet go untaxed. In the landmark case of National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue and it?s modern successor, Quill Corp. v. North Dakota ex. rel Heitkamp, the Supreme Court has established a retailer must have a ?substantial nexus? of contact in a state before it can be subject to that state?s taxing authority. The Court in Quill did leave the question open, however, to any intervention that Congress saw fit to make. In this comment, Nehill surveys the Court?s Commerce Clause jurisprudence and suggests it is time that Congress allows the individual states to tax sales of goods to their citizens over the Internet. In particular, Nehill recommends the passage of enabling legislation tied to the ?Streamlined Sales Tax Project? which attempts to offer clarity and order to the over 7500 different sales tax schemes in the United States. This proposal would alleviate the current heavy burden placed upon Internet retailers in collecting sales taxes. With an estimated $54.8 billion in sales tax to be lost by 2011, Nehill offers a feasible alternative to the disparate systems of taxation that have prevented assessment of online commerce up to this point.

MAJOR COURT DECISIONS IN COMMUNICATIONS LAW, 2004

MAJOR FCC DOCKET SUMMARIES, 2004