BCOM/405
May 19, 2014
Teresa Knox
Introduction
Statutes tend to deal with problems affecting society or large groups of people, in contrast to common law, which usually deals with smaller, individual problems” (Pember 2005/2006, p 8). Business statutes are the acts that are established by the federal and state government to manage the business activities of an organization. Business communication environment is a main part of the organization as it involves key information regarding the operations of the business and modes that are used for communication. Business statutes are developed to regulate the operations of the business organizations in a smooth manner. The business statutes in communication exist to manage business processes to make certain that the public and business interests can gain access to accurate information. Information must be easily available to make sure the public can make the right decisions.
The three types of business statutes are the Freedom of Information Act, Communication Act, and the Telecommunications Business Act. Business Communication environment is based on some legal acts or statutes that regulate the communication activities in the organizations. The Freedom of Information Act business statute was amended in 1996 by the Electronic Freedom of Information Act. “The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996 expanded the scope of the FOIA to encompass electronic records and require the creation of "electronic reading rooms" to make records more easily and widely available to the public” ("FOIA | FCC.gov", n.d.). According to this statute, it is important for the organizations to provide information regarding the methods through which their information is channeled and communicated. The modes by which the key functions are communicated should be also provided by the organizations in federal records for the public. Amendments and changes made by the business organizations should be also published for federal records to inform the public. The Communication Act, incorporated in 1934, is another business statute made by the federal government of the U.S. According to this Act, a commission is responsible for the acts of business communication. Commission members should not be familiar with the persons involved in the business communication. The Telecommunications Business Act is a business statute that was developed to encourage the use of telecommunication among the users. Telecommunications business act is an expansive area of business statute. It covers laws for the use of cable system, television, wireless networks, radio broadcasting and various frequencies. Its’ regulations are intended to promote the business of telecommunications. According to this business act, business of telecommunication should be categorized into facilities based business.
The Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of information act is the selected business statute and its’ regulations are developed by the legal bodies for business communication environment. This business statute has various regulations over the business communication that regulates the communication network of the organizations. Business organizations should publish their information related to the modes and approaches used for the communication purpose related to the business activities. Statements regarding the use of channels through which the information is transferred should be included in federal records. Staff manuals, opinions, and changes must be published in federal records in order to inform the general public. Statement of general policy must be made public to make everyone aware of these policies. Business organizations should make a general copy for any public scrutiny to abide by the regulation of this business statute. The general index of rules must be in the federal records by a business entity to provide the public information concerning the rules.