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...industry rely on one thing: a fast pace.
Only four years ago, for example, the transition of the nation's broadcast stations to digital was at a standstill as TV stations, set makers and cable operators bickered. Now expect a nastier fight, as the FCC and Congress zero in on a final deadline--there's even strong disagreement over an exact date among the newly confident Republicans in Congress. To keep the transition on track will require compromise from all sides. In return for new digital broadcast rights, certain FCC commissioners will want new programming quotas for news, educational and public affairs.
By the time President Bush takes the oath of office, vigorous debate is expected in Congress, sparking what amounts to a constitutional convention for the media industry: revamping the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The most urgent issue for lawmakers: putting cable and Web-based telephone service under the same obligations to subsidize universal service and lease lines to competitors as traditional local phone companies.
If the act is dismantled, lawmakers will jump to make alterations beyond phone service. Ownership limits, cable indecency regulation and public-interest obligations would be up for grabs. Such a bill, which is expected to be the focus of the key House and Senate Commerce Committees for the next two congressional sessions, would be enormously complicated and take years to become law.
Even with the same president, uncertainties abound. No incident proved how fast...
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