Although the First Amendment protects freedom of the press,the federal government has passed many laws regarding media communications.Discuss the differences in how the federal government regulates different kinds of media.In your answer,be sure to discuss the 1996 Telecommunications Act,the Communications Decency Act and at least three regulations that grew out of the FCC's licensing power.

There are four components to this question.
a.Differences between broadcast and nonbroadcast media regulation: In the United States,the print and online media are essentially free from government interference.The broadcast media,on the other hand,are subject to federal regulation by the (FCC).
b.1996 Telecommunications Act: The Telecommunications Act was a broad effort to end most regulations.The legislation loosened restrictions on media ownership and allowed telephone companies,cable television providers,and broadcasters to compete with one another to provide telecommunication services.Following the passage of this act,mergers between telephone and cable companies and different entertainment media produced a greater concentration of media ownership than had been previously possible.
c.The Communications Decency Act: This law made it illegal to make so-called indecent sexual material on the internet accessible to those under age 18.In 1997,the Supreme Court ruled that the Communications Decency Act was an unconstitutional infringement of the right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment.
d.Regulations: The FCC has used its licensing power to impose several regulations that can affect the political content of radio and TV broadcasts.The first of these is the equal time rule,under which broadcasters must provide to candidates for the same political office equal opportunities to communicate their messages to the public.The second regulation is the right of rebuttal,which requires that individuals be given the opportunity to respond to personal attacks.For many years,a third important federal regulation was the fairness doctrine.Under this rule,broadcasters who aired programs on controversial issues were required to provide time for opposing views.In 1985,however,the FCC stopped enforcing the fairness doctrine.