TC 210 Sandbox

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Former Talking Heads front man David Byrne released a new film titled Ride, Rise, and Roar on January 27th, 2011. [1]

USTA v FCC Rough Draft

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Ruling

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On March 2nd, 2004 the U.S. appeals court ruled that the FCC lacks the authority to delegate responsibility for setting those rates to the states. The court also ruled that the FCC had failed to prove that competitors in the local phone market are impaired without government regulated access to critical parts of the phone network controlled by the regional giants. [2] Along with upholding the Triennial Review Order's exemption provided to incumbent carriers from unbundling for certain fiber-fed loops and for line sharing. The ruling was unanimous amongst the three judges and stated that the FCC erred by not providing unified, federal guidelines and by pushing FCC decisions onto the states. [3]

Implications

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With this ruling in place regional companies believe that the rates set by the government are too low and give the competition an unfair advantage. A representative of SBC stated that without the regulation they would have still given competitors access to their networks, but at rates set by the market not by the governments. Whereas competitors like AT&T Corp and MCI stated that without the regulated rates, they would have to get out of the local phone business in many markets because the regional companies' rates would be too high. [4] In an article by ISP Planet, they described that the courts decision has completely changes the economics of Monopolies in these markets. By forcing a regulated price on the companies the monopolistic companies now are unable to make profits because they cannot set their own rates. However this also skews the capitalist market because the rates may not be what the customer is willing to pay or lower. [5]

Notes

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  1. ^ Rossi, Michael. Talking Heads Star Byrne Releases New Film, "Sky News HD", created Thursday January 20, 2011, accessed on January 29th, 2011.
  2. ^ Griff, Witte (3 March 2004). "FCC Rule on Loacal Phone Service Rejected". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ "Supreme Court Lets Stand Court Ruling that Overturned UNE Rules". Converge! Network Digest. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  4. ^ Griff, Witte (3 March 2004). "FCC Rule on Loacal Phone Service Rejected". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. ^ Goldstein, F.R. "USTA v. FCC: A Decision Ripe for the Supremes". ISP Planet. Retrieved 8 February 2011.