San Diego Law Review Issue Search
| Volume | 40 |
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| Month | May |
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| Year | 2003 |
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| Title | The Antitrust-Telecom Connection |
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| Author(s) | Steven Semeraro |
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| First Page | 555 |
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| Abstract | This Article discusses the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which requires local telephone service providers to provide certain services to competitive local exchange carriers, and its relation to the Sherman Antitrust Act. The author begins by examining the Telecommunications Act and the allegations in the telecom-antitrust cases. In these cases, some courts have held that the antitrust laws apply to local telephone companies as if the Telecommunications Act did not exist, other courts have dismissed identical antitrust claims. The author attempts to explain these conflicting results by showing court's reliance on two different lines of doctrine: implied immunity and antitrust state action. The author goes on to determine the proper way to account for a competition-enhancing regulatory statute like the, Telecommunications Act, when considering an antitrust challenge. The author argues that new doctrinal tools are needed for this task because the Telecommunications Act's single goal is to enhance competition, whereas most anti-trust laws seek to advance policy goals other than competition. The author concludes by applying these doctrinal tools to the Telecommunications Act. |
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