Page 122 - Communication Commerce and Power The Political Economy of America and the Direct Broadcast Satellite

DBS and the Structure of US Policy Making Ill

the right of one license holder to transfer his or her license to someone
else; third, set out-of-band emission standards to prevent interference
with non-DBS services; and, fourth, license blocks of frequencies
rather than individual channels. Also significant are the regulatory
tasks FCC officials have not pursued. These include a refusal to set the
technical standards for DBS transmissions; a refusal to apply cross-
media ownership restrictions on DBS; a refusal to regulate the own-
ership of DBS reception equipment; a refusal to regulate program
content; and a refusal to regulate the types of services offered, their
availability or price. 14 Current FCC regulations prohibit foreign
nationals controlling domestic DBS services. Moreover, DBS applic-
ants must satisfy an annual 'due diligence' requirement involving the
contracting/construction of the satellite within one year of receiving a
FCC license. Only then does the FCC make GSO and frequency
assignments.
The assumption underlying this generally hands-off approach is
that market forces will enable entrepreneurs to satisfy consumer pre-
ferences at the lowest possible price. 15 More than just an attempt to
promote the development of DBS systems as competitive entities, the
FCC's hands-off approach can also be understood to be a matter of
regulatory convenience. 16
As discussed earlier, the USIA conducts a range of communication
activities, including international radio and television broadcasting.
Its official mandate includes the task of strengthening 'foreign under-
standing between the United States and other countries.' 17 More
specifically, the USIA is responsible for advising the President, the
Secretary of State and other officials on foreign public opinion regard-
ing current and prospective US policies; cooperating with the US
private sector to enhance American 'information and cultural efforts'
overseas; assisting in efforts to extend the free flow of information;
and for countering 'attempts to distort the objectives and policies of
the United States' by foreign governments and mass media. 18 But
despite this comprehensive mandate, the role of its cultural-power
responsibilities have rarely been coordinated with other agencies dur-
ing the policy-making. process. 19
As previously mentioned, the White House Office of Telecom-
munications Policy was succeeded in 1977 by the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration located in the
Department of Commerce. While the NTIA's mandate was modified
from that of its predecessor by formally directing (but not restricting)
it to responsibilities involving domestic telecommunications, the