Showing results for: “digital markets act”
FCC Should Not Regulate Broadband Providers’ Privacy Policies and Instead Defer to the FTC
Earlier this month, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler released a “fact sheet” describing his proposal to have the FCC regulate the privacy policies of broadband Internet service providers (ISPs). Chairman Wheeler’s detailed proposal will be embodied in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that the FCC may take up as early as March ... FCC Should Not Regulate Broadband Providers’ Privacy Policies and Instead Defer to the FTC
Netflix and net neutrality: Hypocritically screwing over Internet users since 2015!
Netflix’s latest net neutrality hypocrisy (yes, there have been others. See here and here, for example) involves its long-term, undisclosed throttling of its video traffic on AT&T’s and Verizon’s wireless networks, while it lobbied heavily for net neutrality rules from the FCC that would prevent just such throttling by ISPs. It was Netflix that coined ... Netflix and net neutrality: Hypocritically screwing over Internet users since 2015!
The Obama Administration’s Latest Attack on IP Rights Threatens the Development of Innovative Biologic Drugs
The Obama Administration regrettably continues its campaign to weaken intellectual property (IP) rights, moving beyond antitrust policy (see articles by me, here and here) to the realm of substantive legislation. In his fiscal year 2017 budget proposal, President Obama proposed to reduce the period of exclusivity granted producers of “biologic” drugs from twelve to seven ... The Obama Administration’s Latest Attack on IP Rights Threatens the Development of Innovative Biologic Drugs
U.S. Regulatory Budgeting: Take a Page from Canada
Like taxation, government regulation imposes indirect deadweight efficiency losses on the economy as well as direct costs on affected businesses and consumers. Unlike taxation, however, whose direct costs (payments made to government) are on public display, the heavy direct burden of regulation is far less visible to the public. This creates a strong incentive for ... U.S. Regulatory Budgeting: Take a Page from Canada
Penalizing Innovation: The FAA’s Regulation of Drones
As the late Nobel Laureate James Buchanan and other economists have long pointed out, even in the case of market failure, regulation is only potentially justified if economic welfare under regulation is likely to be higher than under an unregulated market – not an easy test to meet, in light of rampant government failure. Nevertheless, ... Penalizing Innovation: The FAA’s Regulation of Drones
The FCC, Privacy, and Authority Over the Edge: Forborn, not Forbidden
The FCC doesn’t have authority over the edge and doesn’t want authority over the edge. Well, that is until it finds itself with no choice but to regulate the edge as a result of its own policies. As the FCC begins to explore its new authority to regulate privacy under the Open Internet Order (“OIO”), ... The FCC, Privacy, and Authority Over the Edge: Forborn, not Forbidden
Competition, not Price Controls
In an effort to control drug spending, several states are considering initiatives that will impose new price controls on prescription drugs. Ballot measures under consideration in California and Ohio will require drug companies to sell drugs under various state programs at a mandated discount. And legislators in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have drafted bills that would create new government commissions ... Competition, not Price Controls
FCC Majority Approves Anticompetitive Rulemaking that Would Reduce Efficiency in Video Programming and Lower Welfare
On February 18, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted three-to-two in favor of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) fancifully entitled “Expanding Consumers’ Video Navigation Choices, MB Docket No. 16-42; Commercial Availability of Navigation Devices, CS Docket No. 97-80”. The NPRM, in the words of the FCC’s press release, will “create a framework for providing ... FCC Majority Approves Anticompetitive Rulemaking that Would Reduce Efficiency in Video Programming and Lower Welfare
Time To Make The Donuts: Self-Help Agreements and ICANN Accountability
It seems like debates that involve the ability to access the Internet fall into absolutism very quickly. One could almost construct a corollary of Godwin’s law: As the length of a policy discussion involving the Internet increases, the probability of someone claiming a nefarious plot to destroy the Internet approaches 1. Should there be zero-rated ... Time To Make The Donuts: Self-Help Agreements and ICANN Accountability
Justice Scalia, Monopolization, and Economic Efficiency
The late Justice Antonin Scalia’s magisterial contributions to American jurisprudence will be the source of numerous learned analyses over the coming months. As in so many other doctrinal areas, Justice Scalia’s opinions contributed importantly to the sound development of antitrust law, and, in particular, to the assessment of monopolization. His oft-cited 2004 opinion for the ... Justice Scalia, Monopolization, and Economic Efficiency
Kolasky (2) on the Apple e-books case: Coordination, even horizontal coordination, isn’t per se illegal
Jon Jacobson in his initial posting claims that it would be “hard to find an easier case” than Apple e-Books, and David Balto and Chris Sagers seem to agree. I suppose that would be true if, as Richard Epstein claims, “the general view is that horizontal arrangements are per se unlawful.” That, however, is not ... Kolasky (2) on the Apple e-books case: Coordination, even horizontal coordination, isn’t per se illegal
Reed on the Apple e-books case: “We can remember it for you wholesale” – why the model matters in Apple e-books
In Philip K. Dick’s famous short story that inspired the Total Recall movies, a company called REKAL could implant “extra-factual memories” into the minds of anyone. That technology may be fictional, but the Apple eBooks case suggests that the ability to insert extra-factual memories into the courts already exists. The Department of Justice, the Second ... Reed on the Apple e-books case: “We can remember it for you wholesale” – why the model matters in Apple e-books
