An increase in Federal executive branch regulatory activity – whether through executive order, formal or informal administrative agency action – has been noted by many across the country. In launching the Executive Branch Review Project, the Practice Groups of the Federalist Society seek to prompt a national debate about whether there has been an uptick in such regulatory activity, and, if so, with what consequence. The project will provide objective resources that identify major government activity, and will provide a forum for debate and discussion about whether such regulation constitutes a form of legal and regulatory overreach. The first component of this project is a new blog dedicated to highlighting action or inaction by the executive branch, http://www.executivebranchproject.com/.

To kickoff this new endeavor, U.S. Senator Michael S. Lee (Utah) and Federalist Society founder and Vice Chairman David M. McIntosh discussed the project and provided their perspectives on the use of executive power.

Featuring:

• Hon. Michael S. Lee, United States Senate, Utah
• Hon. David M. McIntosh, Partner, Mayer Brown LLP and Vice Chairman, The Federalist Society
• Moderator: Mr. Dean A. Reuter, Vice President & Director of Practice Groups, The Federalist Society

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The telecommunications industry hailed Congressional enactment of the Telecommunication Act of 1996. But that was then, and this is now.  More than sixteen years after its enactment, the ’96 Act is a statute that has been overtaken by technological and market developments, especially the convergence of voice, video, and data services emanating from the Internet revolution.  While almost any statute would need at least some modifications two decades later, the dramatic changes in the delivery and consumption of voice, data, and video services precipitated by the Internet and Internet Protocol (IP) technology has left the Commission in the unenviable position of applying twentieth century law to twenty-first century technology.  This task is increasingly analogous to fitting the proverbial square peg in a round hole....[Read More!]

The Telecommunications & Electronic Media Practice Group hosted this panel on "Communications Law Reform" on Saturday, November 17, 2012, during the 2012 National Lawyers Convention.

Telecommunications: Communications Law Reform
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
State Room

• Prof. Jonathan B. Baker, American University Washington College of Law
• Prof. Daniel Crane, University of Michigan Law School
• Hon. Robert M. McDowell, Federal Communications Commission
• Hon. Maureen K. Ohlhausen, Federal Trade Commission
• Hon. Ajit V. Pai, Federal Communications Commission
• Moderator: Hon. Jennifer W. Elrod, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Mayflower Hotel
Washington, DC

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One of the most important communications policy battles affecting freedom and prosperity in the digital era is not unfolding in Congress, the White House, the Federal Communications Commission or anywhere else in Washington.  The struggle is global and has been underway for at least a decade, albeit unnoticed until this year.  The next battlefield in the fight to maintain Internet freedom will be a diplomatic conference this December in the United Arab Emirates, where 193 countries will convene to renegotiate the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), decades-old treaty-based rules originally designed to govern the international exchange of old-fashioned voice telephone services....[Read More!]