On Feb. 26, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to regulate Internet service providers under Title II of the 1934 Telecommunications Act, but the public still isn’t allowed to see the text of the decision. Such secrecy has quickly led to a firestorm of conspiracy talk.
Press Releases
Administration’s Privacy Proposal is Next Step in Regulating Internet
The Obama administration apparently wants its legacy to be that of regulating the Internet, notwithstanding the Internet’s remarkable success in the United States under what has been a generally light-handed regulatory regime.
FCC Effort to Regulate Internet Ignores History of Past Failures
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler claims that his plan to regulate Internet Service Providers (ISPs) under Title II of the 1934 Telecommunications Act is “rooted in long-standing regulatory principles.”
Registration Now Open for TPI Aspen Forum
Online registration is now open for the 2015 Technology Policy Institute Aspen Forum, scheduled this year for August 16 – 18.
Event Video Now Available – Patents in Theory and Practice: Implications for Reform
Video of the February 11th event, “Patents in Theory and Practice: Implications for Reform” is now available on the TPI website. Panel presentations have also been posted.
Event – Patents in Theory and Practice: Implications for Reform
Patent reform is high on the agenda for the upcoming Congress. Proponents of reform claim the current system produces excessive litigation, particularly on the part of “patent assertion entities,” imposing costs on entrepreneurs and others and deterring innovation. Those on the other side suggest that the litigation explosion is overstated and that patent reform efforts will weaken intellectual property protections to the detriment of innovation. Complicating this issue is that the effects of the America Invents Act, recent court decisions, as well as changes at USPTO are still unfolding.
Delays in Release of FCC Orders Illustrate Transparency Issues
The Federal Communications Commission’s unique custom of voting on orders not yet released to the public, and granting “editorial privileges” after approval, raises obvious transparency concerns, explains Scott Wallsten in “Administrative Procedures, Bureaucracy, and Transparency: Why Does the FCC Vote on Secret Texts?” released today by the Technology Policy Institute. Moreover, an analysis of delays in publication in the federal register after the vote suggests that edits made after the approval of an order go beyond simple copy editing and are probably of a more substantive nature.
The FTC Report on the ‘Internet of Things’
The new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff report on the “Internet of Things” resembles previous commission privacy reports in being almost entirely bereft of new data or analysis. Commissioner Joshua Wright’s dissenting statement is the best summary: “the Workshop Report includes a lengthy discussion of industry best practices and recommendations for broad-based privacy legislation without analytical support to establish the likelihood that those practices and recommendations, if adopted, would improve consumer welfare.”
Event – Patents in Theory and Practice: Implications for Reform
Patent reform is high on the agenda for the upcoming Congress. Proponents of reform claim the current system produces excessive litigation, particularly on the part of “patent assertion entities,” imposing costs on entrepreneurs and others and deterring innovation. Those on the other side suggest that the litigation explosion is overstated and that patent reform efforts will weaken intellectual property protections to the detriment of innovation. Complicating this issue is that the effects of the America Invents Act, recent court decisions, as well as changes at USPTO are still unfolding.
We Don’t Need to Define Broadband
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided in its January open meeting that a data connection must offer at least 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream to be considered “broadband.” That was a mistake. It would also have been a mistake to adopt a lower standard preferred by Internet service providers (ISPs). Even the 4 Mbps standard the FCC adopted in 2010 was unnecessary.