Editing Communications Act of 1934 (section)

==Changes and amendments==

===1960s quiz show amendments===
Amendments made to the Act in 1960, passed in the wake of the [[1950s quiz show scandals]], prohibited the presentation of scripted [[game show]]s under the guise of a legitimate contest.<ref>{{USPL|86|752|Communications Act Amendments, 1960}}</ref>

===Public Broadcasting Act of 1967===
{{Excerpt|Public Broadcasting Act of 1967}}

===Telecommunications Act of 1996===
The [[Telecommunications Act of 1996|Telecommunication Act 1996]] contained two major changes from the original Communications Act of 1934: the new act was less technologically biased and offered less regulation.
This act determined the basis of media regulation by its contents, not a technological standard. Title V in Telecommunication Act of 1996,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/tcom1996.pdf |title=Telecommunications Act of 1996 |access-date=February 12, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050119235910/http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/tcom1996.pdf |archive-date=January 19, 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> "Obscenity and Violence", is a good example of this; Title V set the standard for regulating media contents.
The Communications Act of 1934 is argued by some to have created monopolies, such as the case of AT&T. The FCC recognized AT&T as a "[[natural monopoly]]" during the 1930s in the Communications Act of 1934.<ref name="update">{{cite book| last=Grant| first=August E.|author2=Jennifer Harman Meadows| title=Communication technology update, Volume 10, Part 2006 | year=2006| pages=276| work=Focal Press}}</ref> Because of these effects, the FCC designed the Communications Act 1996 "to provide for a pro-competitive, de-regulatory national policy framework designed to accelerate rapidly private sector deployment of advanced information technologies and services to all Americans by opening all telecommunications markets to competition..."<ref>Conference Report, Telecommunications Act of 1996, House of Representatives, 104th Congress, 2d Session, H.Rept. 104-458, at p. 1.</ref> The Telecommunication Act of 1996 also added and changed some rules to account for the emerging internet.

The FCC derives its jurisdiction to facilitate the deployment of [[broadband]] to Americans in [[Telecommunications policy of the United States#Broadband deployment policy objectives|Section 706]] in the Telecommunications act of 1996. In this section the code states that the FCC is to "encourage the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans."<ref name="fcc.gov">{{Cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/broadband/|title = Getting Connected to Broadband|date = May 22, 2018}}</ref>
They currently want to advocate the following objectives:
*Broaden the deployment of broadband technologies
*Define broadband to include any platform capable of transmitting high-bandwidth intensive services
*Ensure harmonized regulatory treatment of competing broadband services
*Encourage and facilitate an environment that stimulates investment and innovation in broadband technologies and services<ref name="fcc.gov"/>

===1984 & 1992 Amendments===
* The [[Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984]] added Title VI—Cable Communications, which deregulated the cable industry.
* The [[Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992]] amended Title VI and required cable systems to carry most local broadcast channels and prohibited cable operators from charging local broadcasters to carry their signal.

One major amendment to the Communications Act of 1934 was made on September 7, 1999. The FCC ruled "that a broadcast station should not be allowed to refuse a request for political advertising time solely on the ground that the station does not sell or program such lengths of time". Politics have had many effects and changes to the act that are not in the "best interest of the public" thus taking away some of the power given to the FCC from the Act.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gutwein|first=P. J.|title=The FCC and Section 312(a)(7) of the Communications Act of 1934: The development of the "unreasonable access" clause|journal=Federal Communications Law Journal|year=2000|volume=53 | issue = 1 |pages=161–183|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/213146717/}}</ref>

===Proposed amendments===
The [[Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2013 (H.R. 2844; 113th Congress)]] would amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) to publish on its website and submit to Congress a biennial report on the state of the communications marketplace.<ref name=2844sum>{{cite web|title=H.R. 2844 - Summary|date=September 10, 2013|url=http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th/house-bill/2844|publisher=United States Congress|access-date=September 12, 2013}}</ref>  That report would include an analysis of "the state of competition in the markets for voice, video, and data services, as well as the availability of high-speed and high-quality telecommunications services" in the United States.<ref name=cbo2844>{{cite web|title=CBO - H.R. 2844|date=August 29, 2013|url=http://www.cbo.gov/publication/44539|publisher=Congressional Budget Office|access-date=September 12, 2013}}</ref>   It would also "require the FCC to determine whether laws and regulations pose a barrier to entry into communications markets and to include that information in the biennial report" and cancel a number of preexisting requirements for various other reports from the FCC.<ref name="cbo2844"/>