Telecommunications Act of 1996

Uncommon card · No. 196727

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996 by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code. Heavily supported and lobbied for by major corporations in the telecommunications sector, the act was the first significant overhaul of United States telecommunications law in more than sixty years. It amended the Communications Act of 1934 and represented a major change in that law, because it was the first time that the Internet was added to American regulation of broadcasting and telephony. The stated intention of the law was to "let anyone enter any communications business – to let any communications business compete in any market against any other." As such, it is often described as an attempt to deregulate the American broadcasting and telecommunications markets due to technological convergence. The Telecommunications...

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