Telecommunications Law

The Federal Communications Commission is the foremost federal agency who has authority over all matters arising from the telecommunications industry. The 1934 act creating the FCC was amended only in 1996 by the Telecommunications Act, which currently is the major telecommunications law in the United States. The 1996 Act regulates electronic communications and broadcasting in America. The federal government has upper hand in the regulation of telecommunications in the United States and the 1996 Act included the Internet as a telecommunications medium. The 1996 Act also provides for spectrum allotment, media cross-ownership, and broader competition in the telecommunications industry. The 1996 Act addressed numerous issues relating to telecommunications but are seen by many as already outdated at this time due to technological advancements following the 1996 enactment. The telecommunications industry is heavily regulated by the federal government mainly because of evolving nature of the industry and rapid technological advancements, which results to new legal issues.

After the 1996 enactment of the Telecommunications Act, numerous federal legislation followed, such as the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which regulates pornographic material on the Internet. In addition to federal law, state laws are also in place regulating the telecommunications industry although these laws are in compliance with federal standards. Moreover, there are private organizations, such as the Media Law Resource Center, that serve as watchdogs on specific fields relating to telecommunications.

The telecommunications industry pervades almost all areas of life in the United States, including homeland security. The federal government requires telecommunications companies to comply with strict regulations, especially in the installation of new technology as these technology may have the tendency to breach the privacy of individuals or the security of the nation. The main goal of the 1996 Telecommunications Act was to break up the monopoly in the industry. Federal regulations are constantly evolving in order to free up the market. The 1996 Act gave the American market numerous options in terms of radio, television, and communications. Moreover, the 1996 Act provides stringent measures on limiting content in television in order to protect children. This move is not as easy as it was in 1996 due to the advent of the Internet and the proliferation of numerous social media platforms.

The rapid advancement of technology in the telecommunications sector brings with it numerous legal issues that, if not mitigated now by expert telecommunications law attorney, may blow up into serious, costly, and lengthy litigation in the future. The main work performed by telecommunications law attorney is to make sure companies are in compliance with telecommunications law in order to avoid stiff penalties, or, worse, imprisonment for officers and directors, especially when found to have grossly violated the law. Compliance with the law requires registration, licensing, and, often, application for patent rights, in order for a telecommunications company to operate. In addition, telecommunications law attorneys also ensure that the company is operating as prescribed by the law by making sure the company is not invading other people's privacies with telemarketing schemes or are harming children with violent and sexual content in the context of televisions. All these works are done in order to prevent litigation, which can often not be avoided.

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Consumer Law - Legal Information and Resources

Consumer Law

The United States is a consumerist society. The American economy is made vibrant by the number of options the public has when it comes to goods and services. It is, however, not uncommon for seller of goods and services to resort to certain practices, which range from simple misleading to downright fraud, in order to attract buyers. With the increasing number of retailers and service providers turning to the online platform for business, cases of abusive business practices also increased. The U.S. Congress, by virtue of its constitutional mandate to regulate interstate commerce, created the Bureau of Consumer Protection to protect the public from these abusive business practices. In accordance with federal legislation, states create enforcement agencies for the public to lodge their consumer rights complaints. Consumers also have the option of suing the seller.

One of the foremost consumer rights law is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Not a few years ago, the United States experienced a financial crisis that was a result of risky "subprime" lending. Under this type of lending, banks loaned to people with poor or zero credit histories, which made it difficult for them to pay their loans. As a result, many homes were foreclosed and the court dockets were flooded with consumer bankruptcies. Under the FDCPA, banks and lending institutions are prohibited from using harassment to collect unpaid balances. The two other leading consumer rights law are the Home Ownership and Equal Protect Act and the Trust in Lending Act, which prohibit predatory lending practices by imposing exorbitant interest rates, hiding fees and penalties, and applying payments to low-interest portions of a loan balance. Consumer rights law also include protection by buyers from false advertising, warranty misrepresentation, defective products, forced arbitration clauses, identity theft, and telemarketing fraud.

One of the tricks that sellers employ is hiding abusive terms and conditions in the fine print of agreements. When it comes to borrowing money, it is best to seek the help of a consumer rights law attorney during the processing of such loan so that the fine print of the credit agreement can be reviewed and the attorney can assess whether the agreements are abusive or not. Consumers, however, are not very keen in hiring consumer law attorneys when they purchase certain products as they involve only a small amount and employing an attorney would be more expensive than the price of their product. When faced with a possible violation of consumer rights law, consumers group together to pressure the seller to compensate them.

Violation of consumer rights law is the subject of numerous individual and class action lawsuits in the country. Similarly situated individuals are likely to group together and go after a seller or many sellers as the economic damages in individual consumer rights suit is relatively low. With a class action, the group can push for higher economic damages due to the number of members in the class. The costs of filing a suit against a seller cannot be recouped when individuals would separately file suits. When opting to join a class suit, it is best to hire a consumer rights attorney to fight for the rights of the consumers as a group and to fight for the rights of the consumer as an individual.

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