Miscellaneous
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.”
Will Title II reduce investment? Who’s asking?
The debate over whether and how to regulate broadband has been a vicious, no-holds-barred throwdown. It is expected to come to a head with a vote at the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) next month. Appropriately, much of the debate has focused on how broadband and its uses will develop under different regulatory approaches. One of the biggest disputes is how classifying broadband under Title II of the 1996 Telecommunications Act is likely to affect investment.
Independence, the President and the FCC
Independent regulatory agencies are strange creatures. They are part of the government, yet not immediately accountable to elected officials. Whenever an independent agency makes an unpopular decision, opponents complain about “unelected officials” making important public policy decisions, just as they do when courts reach decisions they don’t like.
Geographic gTLD Proposal Politicizes Domain Name System
A proposal to require applicants to secure approval for new geographic area gTLDs would “insert governments into the operation of ICANN in an unprecedented way”, explains Thomas Lenard in comments filed today with ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee (GAC). Granting governments a veto power over a potentially large class of new gTLDs would politicize the domain name system and is inconsistent with the market-oriented approach that allocates TLDs to their most highly valued uses. The comments were filed in response to the ICANN GAC draft document, “The protection of geographic names in the new gTLDs process”
Event – OTT Video: The End of Bundles?
Recent announcements by HBO and CBS for pure over-the-top video services — no cable subscription required – and a recent proposal to apply multichannel video programming distributor rules to OTT video providers have put the future of video markets back in the news. With these announcements, and other content providers watching carefully to decide whether to offer their own subscription OTT service, have we finally reached a tipping point away from bundles? What are the potential implications of stand-alone OTT services on the economics of video content creation and distribution? Do they have implications for pending mergers? How will the FCC’s recent proposed rule affect OTT and traditional video services? A panel of experts representing all players in the video space will discuss these and other issues at the upcoming event, “OTT Video: The End of Bundles?” hosted by the Technology Policy Institute.