On 10/1/02, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released 12 studies in regarding the state of the "media marketplace" in America, as part of a massive review of all federal rules regarding media ownership. the background behind the media ownership rules at issue and the review process was discussed in a September 2002 NPTalk. The studies are summarized in this article, and are all available for download at: http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/studies.html. Comments are sought on the studies by December 2, 2002, with reply comments due January 2, 2003.

On September 20, the Commerce Department announced its intention to extend its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is charged with management of the Internet domain system, for another year until September 2003. ICANN's arrangement with the Commerce Department dates back to November 1998, but has long been fraught with dissatisfaction and contention around issues of accountability, scope of governance, and representation of public and public interest perspectives within ICANN.

The opportunity to enact the Bush Administration's faith-based initiative this year is nearly at end. Sens. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) have tried in vain to get a Unanimous Consent Agreement to bring their "Charity Aid, Recovery, and Empowerment Act" (CARE Act) up under special rules that would limit the amount of debate on the bill. Given the limited time left before Congress leaves for fall elections, about the only way the Senate will act on the CARE Act is under a Unanimous Consent Agreement.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved final regulations on September 26 implementing a ban on broadcasts by corporations (including nonprofits) and labor unions that refer to federal candidates within 60 days of an election or 30 days of a primary. The FEC used its authority under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), which directed the ban, to carve out two important exceptions: free air time and broadcasts by charitable, educational and religious groups that are exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code.