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HOW TO FIND FCC STUFF ON THE WEB. Susan Bahr, Esq. Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC (301) 258-8947 sbahr@bahrlaw.com. AGENDA. BACKGROUND FINDING STUFF RELEASED BY THE FCC FINDING SPECIFIC FCC RULES FINDING STUFF SUBMITTED BY INTERESTED PARTIES FINDING CONGRESSIONAL DOCUMENTS
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HOW TO FIND FCC STUFF ON THE WEB Susan Bahr, Esq. Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC (301) 258-8947 sbahr@bahrlaw.com
AGENDA • BACKGROUND • FINDING STUFF RELEASED BY THE FCC • FINDING SPECIFIC FCC RULES • FINDING STUFF SUBMITTED BY INTERESTED PARTIES • FINDING CONGRESSIONAL DOCUMENTS • FINDING COURT OPINIONS • FUTURE CHANGES Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
BACKGROUND Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
Constitution President Congress Courts Interested Parties Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
STATUTE • Communications Act of 1934, as amended • Found at 47 U.S.C. § 151, and so on, where U.S.C. = U.S. Code • Was amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION • Section 154 of the Act – • 5 Commissioners appointed by President, consent of Senate • 3 from same political party ? ? ? ? ? Powell Ness Kennard Furchtgott-Roth Tristani Powell Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
ORGANIZATION OF FCC www.fcc.gov/fccorgchart.html Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
THINGS THE FCC DOES • Makes rules • Enforces rules • Executes rules (e.g., grants licenses) Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
HOW RULES ARE MADE(Sometimes) Notice of Inquiry (NOI) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) Order (e.g., “Report and Order” or “Memorandum Opinion and Order”), maybe New Rules and a News Release Petition for Review (Appeal) in Court Petition for Reconsideration (PFR) Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
FINDING STUFF RELEASED BY THE FCC Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
WHAT THE FCC RELEASES • News Releases • Notices • of Inquiry • of Proposed Rulemaking • Orders • Report and Order • Memorandum Opinion and Order • Public Notices Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
DOCKETS AND DOCUMENT NUMBERS DOCUMENT NUMBER DOCKET NUMBER Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
DOCKETS AND DOCUMENT NUMBERS (contd) DOCUMENT NUMBER • FCC/DA # - "Document number"; identifies specific document • by number; "FCC“: document was adopted at Commission • level; "DA“: document was adopted by "delegated authority“ • such as Common Carrier Bureau; “99“: released in 1999 • Docket - Proceeding for specific topic; "99" = began 1999 Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
FCC WEB SITE www.fcc.gov • Three ways to find documents released by FCC • Search for them • Go directly to them using the URL • Look in the Daily Digest Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
SEARCHING FOR FCC DOCUMENTS Go to www.fcc.gov, click on Search, click on FCC Electronic Document Management System (EDOCS) Search on any information you have, such as: Bureaus – usually Common Carrier FCC number – document number DA number – document number Title Contains – this can be tricky! Docket or RM Date range Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
NOTE: ".txt" doesn't have footnotes, but loads faster. • For hard copies, always use ".doc", ".pdf" or ".wp" files because they have footnotes. Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
GO DIRECTLY TO THE FILE USING THE URL • FCC File name conventions -www.fcc.gov/ftp/reference_tools/guide.html • General form of Common Carrier Bureau file names where: type = News_Releases, Orders, Notices (i.e., NPRMs or NOIs), Public_Notices year= 1999, 2000, 2001, etc. http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/type / year / filename Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
filename= For News Releases: nr cc 6 123 . txt -------------- nrcc6123.txt | | | | |__ format (txt,pdf,doc,wp,etc.) | | | |_news release number | | |_decade year | |_Common_Carrier Bureau |_News Release For some Public_Notices: pn cc 6 123 . txt -------------- pncc6123.txt | | | | |__ format (txt,pdf,doc,wp,etc.) | | | |_public notice number | | |_decade year | |_Common_Carrier Bureau |_Public Notice For Orders, NPRMs, NOIs, and some Public Notices: da 96 123 . txt -------------- da960123.txt fcc 96 123 . txt -------------- fcc96123.txt | | | |__ format (txt,pdf,doc,wp,etc.) | | |_sequential document number | |_Year |_Who adopted it Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
Example Federal Communications CommissionFCC 99-171 ____________________________________________________________ Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of )CC Docket No. 94-158 Amendment of Policies and Rules ) Concerning Operator Service ) Providers and Call Aggregators ) SECOND REPORT AND ORDER Adopted: July 12, 1999; Released: July 19, 1999 By the Commission: I. INTRODUCTION In this Second Report and Order, we amend our rules governing operator service providers (OSPs)147 C.F.R. § 64.708(g). ------------------- 1 Raise your hand and tell Sue, "It's time to give out the surprise gifts." DOCUMENT NUMBER DOCKET NUMBER http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/1999/fcc99171.wp Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
DAILY DIGEST Daily Digest Federal Communications Commission News media information 202 / 418-0500 445 12th St., SW Internet: http://www.fcc.gov Washington, D.C. 20554 TTY: 202/418-2555 Vol. 20 No. 42 February 21, 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ … ---------------- TEXTS ---------------- GTE SERVICE COPORATION. Granted GTE request for waiver of the affiliate transactions rules: permission to use fully distributed cost, in lieu of fair market value, to value services GTE provides to affiliates and former affiliates. Action by: Chief, Accounting Safeguards Division, Common Carrier Bureau. Adopted: 02/16/2001 by MO&O. (DA No. 01-422). CCBDA-01-422A1.pdf DA-01-422A1.docDA-01-422A1.txt (e.g., Orders, Notices) OTHER CATEGORIES: PUBLIC NOTICES, NEWS RELEASES http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/2001/da010422.doc Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
HOW TO GET THE DAILY DIGEST • Three ways • Follow the link from the FCC’s Web Page • Get it delivered via email each day • For the above two options, go to www.fcc.gov, click on Daily Digest, and follow the instructions • Use the URL • http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Digest/2001/dd010208.html • http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Digest/2001/ddtoday.html Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
FINDING SPECIFIC FCC RULES Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
WHERE RULES ARE PUBLISHED Attached to the Order in which they are adopted Published in the Federal Register – Often determines effective date http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.htm Placed in the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/index.html Click on: Search or browse your choice of CFR titles and/or volumes In the Title 47 row, click on the most recent date Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
SEARCHING FOR RULES IN C.F.R. For example, at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/cfrassemble.cgi?title=200047 Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
FINDING STUFF SUBMITTED BY INTERESTED PARTIES Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
HOW TO FIND DOCUMENTS (e.g., comments) SUBMITTED BY INTERESTED PARTIES • Go to www.fcc.gov, click on E-Filing, click on Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), click onSearch the ECFS System DOCKET NUMBER Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
FINDING CONGRESSIONAL DOCUMENTS Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
CONGRESS • General information about bills http://thomas.loc.gov/ • Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/ • House Committee on Energy and Commerce http://www.house.gov/commerce/ • Transcripts of the House and Senate - in the Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov/ Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
FINDING COURT OPINIONS Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
COURTS • Court opinions • Links to federal courts http://www.uscourts.gov/links.html • Most FCC appeals go to D.C. Circuit: http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov • U.S. Supreme Court http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
COURTS (contd) • Lists of documents filed in a court case (i.e., "docket listings") usually are available only through PACER (a fee-based service). For info, http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/ • Most documents (e.g., briefs) are not available online. Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
FUTURE CHANGES Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC
FCC Documents • Search using EDOCS • Use URL • Links from Daily Digest • Rules in C.F.R. • Comments in ECFS • Congress and Court Websites Law Offices of Susan Bahr, PC