Final answer:
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 reformed media and communications, leading to more media conglomerates and a change from the FCC's role from regulator to monitor, with a hands-off approach on emergent technologies like the Internet. The FCC enforces the act, emphasizing transparency, fairness, predictability, and timeliness, and intervenes selectively in specific sectors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a significant piece of legislation that reformed the electronic media and communications sectors. It removed limits on media ownership, thereby allowing for increased media conglomerates while imposing the challenge of avoiding monopolies and maintaining competition. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), now functioning more as a monitor than a regulator, enforces the act. The FCC's mission is to ensure the provision of rapid, efficient, and nationwide communication services at reasonable charges, without discrimination. Among its various roles, the FCC licenses and regulates radio and television stations and oversees interstate telephone services. As the market evolved, the FCC has been careful not to over-regulate emerging technologies such as digital television and the Internet. It has notably maintained a hands-off approach toward the Internet, fostering an environment that enables competition without stifling innovation. Moreover, the FCC's approach is directed to interfere with market forces as little as possible. Its guiding principles of transparency, fairness, predictability, and timeliness steer its regulatory actions. It selectively intervenes in areas such as tariffs and the licensing of international telecommunications services but has refrained from regulating sectors like mobile, retail internet, international communications, satellite, and long-distance telephone services.