Showing archive for: “Broadband”
ICLE Files Ex Parte Notice With FCC on Restoring Internet Freedom NPRM
This week, the International Center for Law & Economics filed an ex parte notice in the FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom docket. In it, we reviewed two of the major items that were contained in our formal comments. First, we noted that the process by which [the Commission] enacted the 2015 [Open Internet Order]… demonstrated scant ... ICLE Files Ex Parte Notice With FCC on Restoring Internet Freedom NPRM
ICLE urges Supreme Court to review DC Circuit decision in Open Internet Order case
Today the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) submitted an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to review the DC Circuit’s 2016 decision upholding the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order. The brief was authored by Geoffrey A. Manne, Executive Director of ICLE, and Justin (Gus) Hurwitz, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Nebraska ... ICLE urges Supreme Court to review DC Circuit decision in Open Internet Order case
The European Approach to Standard Essential Patents (SEPs): A Sound Critique by Scalia Law’s Global Antitrust Institute (GAI)
The Scalia Law School’s Global Antitrust Institute (GAI) has once again penned a trenchant law and economics-based critique of a foreign jurisdiction’s competition policy pronouncement. On April 28, the GAI posted a comment (GAI Comment) in response to a “Communication from the [European] Commission (EC) on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) for a European Digitalised Economy” ... The European Approach to Standard Essential Patents (SEPs): A Sound Critique by Scalia Law’s Global Antitrust Institute (GAI)
Reconfirming Jessica Rosenwercel as an FCC Commissioner Would Undermine Internet Freedom
The Senate should not reconfirm Jessica Rosenworcel to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in order to allow the Trump Administration to usher in needed reforms in the critical area of communications policy. As documented by the Free State Foundation (FSF) and other supporters of free markets, the Obama Administration’s FCC has done a dismal job ... Reconfirming Jessica Rosenwercel as an FCC Commissioner Would Undermine Internet Freedom
The FTC, not the FCC, Should Regulate Internet Privacy
In an October 25 blog commentary posted at this site, Geoffrey Manne and Kristian Stout argued against a proposed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ban on the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in internet service providers’ consumer service agreements. This proposed ban is just one among many unfortunate features in the latest misguided effort by the ... The FTC, not the FCC, Should Regulate Internet Privacy
An FCC ban on arbitration of privacy claims would be the anti-consumer-protection approach
Over the weekend, Senator Al Franken and FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn issued an impassioned statement calling for the FCC to thwart the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in ISPs’ consumer service agreements — starting with a ban on mandatory arbitration of privacy claims in the Chairman’s proposed privacy rules. Unfortunately, their call to arms rests ... An FCC ban on arbitration of privacy claims would be the anti-consumer-protection approach
FCC Chairman Wheeler’s claimed fealty to FTC privacy standards is belied by the rules he actually proposes
Next week the FCC is slated to vote on the second iteration of Chairman Wheeler’s proposed broadband privacy rules. Of course, as has become all too common, none of us outside the Commission has actually seen the proposal. But earlier this month Chairman Wheeler released a Fact Sheet that suggests some of the ways it ... FCC Chairman Wheeler’s claimed fealty to FTC privacy standards is belied by the rules he actually proposes
FCC Disregard of the Rule of Law Requires Legislative Reform
On October 6, the Heritage Foundation released a legal memorandum (authored by me) that recounts the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent sad history of ignoring the rule of law in its enforcement and regulatory actions. The memorandum calls for a legislative reform agenda to rectify this problem by reining in the agency. Key points culled ... FCC Disregard of the Rule of Law Requires Legislative Reform
MVPDs “Unlock” the Box (again), but the FCC Doesn’t Seem to Care
The FCC’s blind, headlong drive to “unlock” the set-top box market is disconnected from both legal and market realities. Legally speaking, and as we’ve noted on this blog many times over the past few months (see here, here and here), the set-top box proposal is nothing short of an assault on contracts, property rights, and ... MVPDs “Unlock” the Box (again), but the FCC Doesn’t Seem to Care
Time to Repeal the FTC’s Common Carrier Jurisdictional Exemption (Among Other Things)?
Section 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act authorizes the FTC to “prevent persons, partnerships, or corporations, except . . . common carriers subject to the Acts to regulate commerce . . . from using unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.” ... Time to Repeal the FTC’s Common Carrier Jurisdictional Exemption (Among Other Things)?
Sixth Circuit’s Decision Rejecting FCC Preemption of State Restrictions on Municipal Broadband Ownership Strikes a Blow in Favor of the Rule of Law (But a Broader Problem Remains)
The American concept of “the rule of law” (see here) is embodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and in the constitutional principles of separation of powers, an independent judiciary, a government under law, and equality of all before the law (see here). It holds that the executive ... Sixth Circuit’s Decision Rejecting FCC Preemption of State Restrictions on Municipal Broadband Ownership Strikes a Blow in Favor of the Rule of Law (But a Broader Problem Remains)
Online Privacy Regulation: A Tale of Two U.S. Agencies (and Some Foreign Bureaucrats)
In recent years much ink has been spilled on the problem of online privacy breaches, involving the unauthorized use of personal information transmitted over the Internet. Internet privacy concerns are warranted. According to a 2016 National Telecommunications and Information Administration survey of Internet-using households, 19 percent of such households (representing nearly 19 million households) reported ... Online Privacy Regulation: A Tale of Two U.S. Agencies (and Some Foreign Bureaucrats)
