This teachable work provides a comprehensive introduction to the technology, economics, law, and policy of modern communications. Its unique strength is that it is organized by analytic concepts instead of current industry lines, which are constantly outdated by technological convergence. The basic ideas: power, entry, pricing, bad content, good content, structure, and access, equip students with a durable and yet flexible intellectual structure that can help parse a complex and ever-changing field. Replete with clear, concise technological and legal summaries, the text provides carefully edited opinions and FCC reports. Technical diagrams, flowcharts, concept maps, and mind maps also help students navigate between minutiae and the big picture. This edition includes a discussion of mobile telephony, the spectrum "commons," public broadcasting, direct broadcast satellite (DBS), media consolidation, local telephone competition, interconnection, Voice-Over-IP (VOIP), and "open access" to broadband pipes. A brand new Research Appendix provides the definitive guide on how to research communications law with clear explanations of the FCC rulemaking process and the documents generated along the way. With myriad refinements and substantial additions, this edition maintains the conceptual clarity and teachability of the first two editions while providing greater coverage, currency, and detail.
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