[coffeecrazy1]

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If the public airwaves are really public, why do private companies run them?

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Funny you should mention it. About an hour ago I was reading my econ textbook in class on just this subject. The book talks about the airwaves being a common resource and that to solve the "problem of the commons" (which means "the absence of incentive to prevent the overuse and depletion of a commonly owned resource"), government can auction off particular frequencies to the highest bidders (ABC, CBS, etc).

So I guess to answer your question of what role does the FCC play one could argue that they are the oversight on the companies the gov't has given permission to use the public airwaves.

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Not to sound like PVN, but why are airwaves considered a common resource, or, for that matter, owned by the government? Since civilians discovered television and the use of the airwaves, should it not follow that the airwaves are private? Otherwise, I'd say the government should compensate me and everybody else for their television sets...because the airwaves don't become available until you have one.

It makes me wonder what is a "commonly-shared" resource. Isn't everything owned by somebody, even if it's the government? Don't we all get by through the grace of others, in a sense? I'm not condemning it, but the assertion that we all share something is somewhat of a fallacy in the sense of ownership.

And no, I didn't like sharing with the other children. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]