I know my new book arrives too late for an on-time Christmas stocking-stuffer. But not too late to fulfill your New Year's resolution that this is the year you are going to think seriously about reforming communications law and policy.
My book, A Call for a Radical New Communications Policy: Proposals for Free Market Reform, consists of eight of my law review articles, with a Foreword placing all of them in the context of a free market-oriented communications policy reform framework that is consistent with fundamental constitutional principles.
Here are a few excerpts from the Foreword which will give you a good sense of the book's scope and tenor:
"When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the most significant change to the Communications Act since its adoption in 1934, it was thought by many that enactment of the new statute meant there would be a meaningful deregulatory shift in communications policymaking in light of the developing marketplace competition. But, unfortunately, there has been no such paradigm shift - which means there is still much work to do to reform our nation's communications laws and policies."
"So, a full fifteen years after the 1996 Act's passage, what should be done now? The answer can be stated quite simply: Communications law and policy needs to be radically reformed in a free market direction that is consistent with fundamental constitutional principles. Communications policy at present cannot fairly be characterized as free market-oriented and conforming comfortably with the Constitution, especially separation of powers and First Amendment strictures. This book consists of a collection of eight articles and essays I have published in law journals over the past decade, beginning in 2001. In part they are descriptive. They explain what is wrong - from both a public policy and constitutional perspective - with the current regime. And in part they are normative in suggesting prescriptions for reform."
"Of course, had major shifts occurred in communications law and policy over the last decade, there might be a legitimate concern that the articles are dated, or at least less useful than otherwise as a path to reform. But even as the communications marketplace and technology have continued evolving rapidly, leading to more competition and more consumer choice, the law and policy paradigm has remained largely unchanged from the twentieth century regulatory model. Therefore, the articles in this book remain as relevant as ever. Indeed, I would argue they are more relevant than ever, given the increasing mismatch, as time goes by, between competitive marketplace realities on the one hand and law and policy on the other."
"This brings me back full circle to this volume's principal purpose: To convince the reader that it is time - past time, really - for Congress to adopt a radical new communications law and policy paradigm grounded firmly in free market and constitutionalist principles. Replacing the current regime with one that is market-oriented and respectful of constitutional strictures would achieve Congress' presently unfulfilled intent, declared in the preamble to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, that our nation's communications laws be pro-competitive and deregulatory."
Each year one of my New Year's resolutions is to continue working hard to achieve much needed communications policy reform. If this is one of yours too, or if you are willing to join in the fight, or simply want to better understand what the fight is all about, I think you will find A Call for a Radical New Communications Policy: Proposals for Free Market Reform informative and useful.
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