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Media and Digital Management pp 201–229Cite as

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Managing Law and Regulation

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Abstract

The chapter deals with “non-market” forms of competition with rivals in the public sphere: litigation, lobbying, public relations and regulation. The legal function in media firms are discussed first, with the dimensions of compliance management and investment calculus for litigation. The next themes are the management of lobbying and of public relations, and how much to spend on them. The chapter then covers the regulatory process, both by industry self-regulation and by government, and how it is used strategically by companies. The concluding sections cover substantive media law: content restrictions such as libel and slander, morality and child protection, the regulating of advertising, antitrust and anti-monopoly law, rules against price discrimination, profit and investment regulation, regulation of “universal connectivity,” support for national industry, privacy protections and the future of video regulation. The case discussion covers the non-market competition between Comcast and Google.

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Notes

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    Smith, Ronald D. Strategic Planning for Public Relations, 2nd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005.

  38. 38.

    Casarez, Nicole B. “Dealing with cybersmear: How to protect your organization from online defamation.” Public Relations Quarterly 47, no. 2 (July 2002): 40–45.

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    van der Merwe, Rian et al. “Stakeholder Strength: PR Survival Strategies in the Internet Age.” Public Relations Quarterly 50, no. 1 (Spring 2005): 39–49.

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  44. 44.

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  66. 66.

    Est. average salary of $180,000/year (Glassdoor. “Senior Counsel Salaries.” Last updated May 8, 2017. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/senior-counsel-salary-SRCH_KO0,14.htm; Robert Half Legal. “2016 Salary Guide for the Legal Field.” Last accessed June 17, 2017. https://www.roberthalf.com/sites/default/files/Media_Root/images/rhl-pdfs/robert_half_legal_2016_salary_guide.pdf), headcount: 25 (LinkedIn estimate) + 100% additional salary for support staff (paralegals, secretaries).

  67. 67.

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  69. 69.

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  71. 71.

    Noam, Eli. “Moore’s Law at risk from industry of delay.” Financial Times. January 19, 2006. Last accessed December 4, 2012. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/c22f7fa4-891b-11da-94a6-0000779e2340.html.

  72. 72.

    The notion that “you can’t regulate the Internet” is incorrect. On the contrary, one can regulate packetized information and its conveyance much more effectively than undifferentiated waves and bits. Moreover, on the Internet, information is identifiable by the sender and recipient; therefore, it is targetable and able to be regulated.

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    Eli M. Noam

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Quiz Answers

Quiz Answers

  1. 1.

    C

  2. 2.

    A

  3. 3.

    D

  4. 4.

    A

  5. 5.

    D

  6. 6.

    D

  7. 7.

    A

  8. 8.

    B

  9. 9.

    A

  10. 10.

    C

  11. 11.

    C

  12. 12.

    D

  13. 13.

    A

  14. 14.

    B

  15. 15.

    C

  16. 16.

    C

  17. 17.

    E

  18. 18.

    B

  19. 19.

    C

  20. 20.

    E

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Noam, E.M. (2019). Managing Law and Regulation. In: Media and Digital Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72000-5_8

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