The privacy code of conduct developed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) multistakeholder (MSH) process will apply to many more consumers and firms than can be directly involved in the process. Therefore, code provisions should be analyzed in much the same way as a regulation in order to assure that they produce benefits in excess of costs, states Thomas Lenard in comments filed today with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. By adopting a process for cost-benefit analysis, the agency can ensure the interests of all stakeholders, including present and future Internet users, are represented.
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OpEd: Google Suit Fails To Expose Monopolistic Practices
Antitrust officials in the U.S. and Europe act as if they’ve found their next Microsoft and seem ready to party like it’s 1999. At a Senate hearing last year, former antitrust division chief Thomas Barnett, representing Google’s competitors, accused Google of “using its extraordinary power to manipulate users and foreclose the ability of other sites to compete.” Yelp cofounder Jeremy Stoppelman wondered “whether new ideas can compete fairly” against Google. (Apparently they can; several weeks ago, Yelp had a very successful IPO). Both the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee support the current Federal Trade Commission investigation.
Putting Unused Spectrum to Work A Benefit in Verizon Deal
The purchase of spectrum proposed in the Verizon Wireless-SpectrumCo deal should benefit consumers and does not in itself raise antitrust concerns because the spectrum is currently not being used, explains Scott Wallsten in comments filed today with the Federal Communication Commission. In addition, the proposed joint commercial agreements, which are common across industries, should be analyzed according to the Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors defined by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice.