What do you do when you're sued for libel in a foreign country that favors plaintiffs? How about this: Sue that country for its media-unfriendly laws! That's what Barron's reporter Bill Alpert did after he was called into court for allegedly defaming an Australian businessman who read his story online. ...

Industry observers have been anticipating a relaxation of media ownership rules by the Feds. But a recent surprise vote by the newest commissioner in an unrelated issue has many wondering which way that commissioner will swing when it comes to media deregulation. Cable World's senior editor Alicia Mundy fills Bob ...

With the FCC poised to scrap most of its media ownership limits, debate still rages about what the consequences of deregulation will be. It's clear that many of the big media outlets will get bigger, but what will that mean for the quality of TV news? A new study by ...

When a newsmaker takes a stand against an individual journalist based solely on where that journalist is from, should fellow journalists take a stand against the newsmaker? That question is fueling strong debate among foreign correspondents this week, after Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz refused to answer a question ...

Seeking prime airtime, the Anti-War Video Fund created a 30-second issue ad to be broadcast on CNN before and after the State of the Union address. Unfortunately for the activists, the ad did not air. It was rejected at the last minute by the mega cable company, Comcast. Outraged anti-war ...

When activists mounted a media campaign to condemn Nike's labor practices, Nike used the media to respond. But the activists cried foul, and California's highest court agreed. Now, it's up to the U.S. Supreme Court to decide where free speech ends, and advertising begins. Brooke discusses the case and its ...

As the FCC prepares to review its rules for media ownership, the trustees of the media are increasingly finding themselves in the media spotlight. This past week FCC commissioners were on the defensive as critics of deregulation made their voices heard in Washington and New York. Brooke speaks with one ...

After years of battling copyright infringement in the courts, Hollywood, armed with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, is trying to turn the enemies' digital devices to its own advantage. NPR's cultural trends correspondent Rick Karr helps OTM make sense of this confusing cross between technology and copyright law.

The Internet sparks a wide range of disputes, but it also has the power to resolve them. Right now, the Internet is home to about 40 websites devoted to alternative dispute brokering. Now, the technology is catching the attention of law schools. This month, law students from around the world ...

Australia's high court has ruled that prominent businessman Joseph Gutnick can sue Dow Jones & Company for defamation in an October 2000 article published in Barron's. The decision has left media lawyers in the U.S. in disbelief. Why? Because the Australian court has ruled that Gutnick can sue in his ...

Last summer, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved rules requiring broadcasters airing the opinion of securities analysts to also disclose any business interests that the analysts or their firms might have in the stocks being discussed. Now, the SEC is poised to approve a similar rule for the print media. ...

Democratic Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps sits on a Republican-dominated panel. The conservative panel is steering the nation toward ever-greater media concentration and less programming diversity. Bob talks with Commissioner Copps about the frustration he feels regarding the deregulatory bent of the current FCC.

The award-winning public television program Frontline is trying to go where no camera has gone before… into a room where a jury is deliberating a capital murder case. Bob speaks with Professor Gerald Treece of the South Texas College of Law in Houston who opposes cameras in the jury room ...

France, in the minds of many, might seem to be the epitome of sexual freedom. But for the last six months, right-wing legislators there have been campaigning to eliminate erotic movies from French television. Earlier this month, the commission proposed to eliminate certain violent or sexual shows from primetime, and ...

Cable television history was made this week, when the Federal Communications Commission allowed for a series of license transfers that complete the merger of cable giants Comcast and AT&T. The new company, to be called AT&T Comcast, will control nearly 30% of all cable service nationwide. Bob speaks with Ken ...

The Federal Communications Commission generally doesn't put restrictions on how much time advertisements can take up-except when it comes to children's programming. But some parents still don't think those restrictions are enough. Now they want to ban all television advertising to children under the age of 12. On the Media's ...

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 greatly relaxed the restrictions on how many broadcast outlets one company could own, setting off what some have called a "land grab" by broadcast companies and unprecedented consolidation within the industry. This week, the Federal Communications Commission began a thorough review of the existing rules ...

Television makers are fighting this week's FCC ruling that all televisions contain digital tuners within 5 years. Will consumers be forced to pay for a feature irrelevant to the majority of viewers? Brooke and Stereophile's Michael Fremer discuss the FCC mandate.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Seth Rosenfeld hadn’t written many articles this year until June 9th, when an eight-page section appeared in the paper entirely under his byline. He had just finished reading 200,000 pages of documents that took 17 years of Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to wrestle from the ...

Four Philadelphia Inquirer reporters were fined $1,000 on Thursday for violating a judge’s order not to speak to jurors… after the case was over. It doesn’t matter that the state of New Jersey found the judge’s decree unconstitutional - the journalists are still guilty of contempt. Host Bob Garfield talks ...