Potential Update to the Communications Act of 1934 Presents Opportunities for Industry and Trade Groups

January 29, 2014

In this issue:

Potential Update to the Communications Act of 1934 Presents Opportunities for Industry and Trade Groups

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has initiated a project to develop legislation to modernize the Communications Act of 1934, which was last updated comprehensively in 1996. It is not merely the passage of time that warrants revisiting the law. The telecommunications world is vastly different from 1996: then Internet access was achieved through dial-up modems (at 56 kbps) and AOL ruled the roost, the concern was that the "Baby Bells" would be dominant, and wireless penetration was under 20% in the United States. The recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to throw out most of the FCC's Open Internet rules graphically demonstrates how out-of-date the Communications Act is.

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