ABSTRACT
The race between law and technology-its past, its present, and its future-is the focus of this chapter. Surveying regulation of media in the United States-which varies wildly by medium, from almost complete lassis-faire approach towards print media to content restrictions imposed on broadcast media-shows the wisdom and accuracy of this statement. Media regulation is both reactive and anticipatory, in that it reflects not only the real issues that have arisen with each form of media, but also the perceived-and, oftentimes, feared-concerns that each type of medium engenders. Any regulation of the media in the United States is limited by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which provides that "Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech, or of the press". A House of Representative subcommittee began an inquiry into the platforms' dominance, and may also consider changing anti-trust law to reflect modern technology and business practices.
