The tenth anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in early February provides an opportunity to reexamine the Act and current proposals to replace it. The 1996 law was the first successful attempt to rewrite the sixty-two-year-old Communications Act of 1934 and it has been criticized as being vague and poorly written. 

AEI will host a conference examining the effect the Telecommunications Act has had on the industry and what lessons the existing law holds for those writing new legislation. Will current legislative proposals to address existing problems be successful?

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Kevin Martin will make remarks, followed by a panel discussion with leading authors of the 1996 legislation, including former senator Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) and former representative Tom Bliley (R-Va.).

Harold Furchtgott-Roth, a former commissioner of the FCC and author of a new book, A Tough Act to Follow: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Separation of Powers (AEI Press, 2006), will present his conclusion that it is not the wording of a law but the uncertainty about how a government agency or court will interpret a law that corrodes investor confidence. Furchtgott-Roth argues that many investors have put their business plans on hold, waiting for greater clarity about rules from the FCC and the courts.