The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has transformed significantly since its birth, taking on new powers and responsibilities as technology evolves. But one thing long remained the same: the agency's New Deal-era official seal, virtually unchanged since the FCC was established in 1934. The seal featured bright red characters spelling the commission's name on a field of blue, while a bald eagle flew over telegraph lines in the center, clutching lightning bolts in its claws.
In 2020, the FCC announced an internal contest to design a new seal. The winner, submitted by the branding strategy consultant Umasankar Arumugam, included a new element right in the center: Emblazoned atop a shield clutched by an eagle, a tiny satellite hangs in the starry sky.
The change was symbolic, but it reflected something profound. The FCC-born in the age of telegrams, telephone switchboards, and families gathered around living-room radios-was now a regulator at the center of the commercial space renaissance. As the agency observed when it announced the change, the new seal depicts the "communications technologies currently transforming our world." The FCC's history shows that commercial enterprises and market mechanisms are best positioned to drive such innovations. If advocacy groups, industry, or other parties want the space industry to fulfill its potential to "transform our world," they should look to telecommunications law.
A TELEGRAPH-AGE AGENCY IN A SPACE-AGE WORLD
In 1934, Congress passed the Communications Act, which created the FCC and directed it to "make available...to all the people of the United States...a rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges."
Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Reason magazine.
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Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Reason magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Libertarianism From the Ground Up
ARGUMENTS FOR LIBERTARIANISM typically take two forms. Some libertarians base their creed on natural rights-the idea that each individual has an inborn right to self-ownership, or freedom from aggression, or whatever-and proceed to argue that only a libertarian political regime is compatible with those rights.
Lawlessness and Liberalism
THE UNITED STATES is notorious both for mass incarceration and for militarized police forces.
Politics Without Journalism
THE 2024 CAMPAIGN WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT FOR THE WAY WE PROCESS PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
EVERY BODY HATES PRICES
BUT THEY HELP US DECIDE BETWEEN BOURBON AND BACONATORS.
The Great American City Upon a Hill Is Always Under Construction
AMERICA'S UTOPIAN DREAMS LEAD TO URBAN EXPERIMENTATION.
Amanda Knox Tells Her Own Story
\"OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM RELIES UPON OUR OWN IGNORANCE AND THE FACT THAT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT OUR RIGHTS ARE.\"
Trade Policy Amnesia
WHILE HE WAS interviewing for the job, President Joe Biden demonstrated an acute awareness of how tariffs work. It's worrisome that he seems to have forgotten that or, worse, chosen to ignore it-since he's been president.
Civil Liberties Lost Under COVID
WHEN JOE BIDEN was sworn in as president in January 2021, he had good reason to be optimistic about the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bye, Joe
AMERICA'S 46th president is headed out the door. After a single term marked by ambitious plans but modest follow-through, Joe Biden is wrapping up his time in office and somewhat reluctantly shuffling off into the sunset.
Q&A Mark Calabria
IF YOU HAVE a mortgage on your home, the odds are that it's backed by one of two congressionally chartered, government-sponsored enterprises (GSES), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
