Telecommunications Law I and II cover the law and policies which govern the U. S. telecommunications and Internet systems, including radio, television, cable, and other mass media services, as well as telephone, mobile communications and new technologies. Telecommunications Law I addresses mass media, telecommunications, and Internet regulatory issues; Telecommunications Law II (not offered every year) involves advanced problems and issues in telecommunications and Internet law. In Telecommunications Law I, students will be presented with the major regulatory principles and approaches relevant to telecommunications and Internet regulation, as well as current and upcoming legal and public policy issues. The course addresses whether and how radio, television, landline and cellular telephone, and Internet service are regulated. The course is designed to encourage participation and debate on issues, for example,  whether citizens can get access to the mass media, whether governmental prohibitions on viewing violent or sexually oriented material on mass media or the Internet are lawful (the Supreme Court is hearing the first case in decades on mass media indecency standards this fall), whether ownership of mass media can or should be limited to enhance diversity of expression, whether some consumers should pay more than others to fund a subsidy system to ensure that telephone service is universally available in rural or low income areas, whether competition in the telephone industry can or should be ensured by government entities or whether the marketplace can regulate the availability, quality and price of telecommunications services, and how new uses of the Internet should be treated. Issues such as the role of the media and Internet in elections may also be considered. During the course, a variety of research materials will be used, including statutes, case law, agency rules, speeches by government and NGO policy makers, law review and popular press articles, as well as Internet sources. It is anticipated that each student will write a 20-25 page paper, on a topic selected by the student, related to the material presented in class. The paper usually counts for 75-80% of the grade; class participation and preparation  for 25-20%. The course is open to second and third year students. Linda K. Smith, who has been an active practitioner of telecommunications law, a consultant to the Governor's Blue Ribbon Telecommunications Infrastructure Task Force, and a senior partner in the Telecommunications Group of the Washington, D.C. law firm of Crowell & Moring, has been teaching at the Law School for 15 years. She has served as co-chair of the Federal Communications Bar Associations Publications Committee, which oversees the Federal Communications Law Journal