Showing archive for: “Telecom”
Slouching Toward Disconnection and the End of the ACP
It’s our first post of the New Year, and we’re having a hard time feeling the Hootenanny vibes. Rather than Congress taking a “new year, new you” approach to telecom policy, it seems that D.C. is starting the year with the “same old, same old” of brinkmanship. This time, with broadband subsidies. The Affordable Connectivity ... Slouching Toward Disconnection and the End of the ACP
ACP Spends More Money While Running Out of Money; BEAD Rules Run Amok
If this is what a summer slowdown looks like in telecom policy world, then autumn is going to be a real humdinger. FCC Announces More Spending for ACP Outreach Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced government agencies and nonprofits in 11 states and territories will receive an additional $4.3 million to promote the ... ACP Spends More Money While Running Out of Money; BEAD Rules Run Amok
NetChoice, Net Neutrality, and the Future of the First Amendment Online
In an expected decision (but with a somewhat unexpected coalition), the U.S. Supreme Court has moved 5 to 4 to vacate an order issued early last month by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which stayed an earlier December 2021 order from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas enjoining Texas’ ... NetChoice, Net Neutrality, and the Future of the First Amendment Online
To Close the Digital Divide, Broadband Infrastructure Funds Must Be Spent Efficiently
States seeking broadband-deployment grants under the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program created by last year’s infrastructure bill now have some guidance as to what will be required of them, with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issuing details last week in a new notice of funding opportunity (NOFO). All things considered, ... To Close the Digital Divide, Broadband Infrastructure Funds Must Be Spent Efficiently
Khan & Slaughter Make ITC Filing Supporting Policies that Would Undermine SEPs and US Innovation
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan recently joined with FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter to file a “written submission on the public interest” in the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Section 337 proceeding concerning imports of certain cellular-telecommunications equipment covered by standard essential patents (SEPs). SEPs are patents that “read on” technology adopted for inclusion ... Khan & Slaughter Make ITC Filing Supporting Policies that Would Undermine SEPs and US Innovation
Chevron and Administrative Antitrust, Redux
[Wrapping up the first week of our FTC UMC Rulemaking symposium is a post from Truth on the Market’s own Justin (Gus) Hurwitz, director of law & economics programs at the International Center for Law & Economics and an assistant professor of law and co-director of the Space, Cyber, and Telecom Law program at the ... Chevron and Administrative Antitrust, Redux
A Change in Direction for the Federal Trade Commission?
While antitrust and regulation are supposed to be different sides of the same coin, there has always been a healthy debate over which enforcement paradigm is the most efficient. For those who have long suffered under the zealous hand of ex ante regulation, they would gladly prefer to be overseen by the more dispassionate and ... A Change in Direction for the Federal Trade Commission?
How Not to Promote US Innovation
President Joe Biden’s July 2021 executive order set forth a commitment to reinvigorate U.S. innovation and competitiveness. The administration’s efforts to pass the America COMPETES Act would appear to further demonstrate a serious intent to pursue these objectives. Yet several actions taken by federal agencies threaten to undermine the intellectual-property rights and transactional structures that ... How Not to Promote US Innovation
10 Years After SOPA/PIPA, Congress Still Needs to Address Online Piracy
Activists who railed against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) a decade ago today celebrate the 10th anniversary of their day of protest, which they credit with sending the bills down to defeat. Much of the anti-SOPA/PIPA campaign was based on a gauzy notion of “realizing [the] democratizing potential” ... 10 Years After SOPA/PIPA, Congress Still Needs to Address Online Piracy
What is the Appropriate Role for State Antitrust Enforcement?
In the U.S. system of dual federal and state sovereigns, a normative analysis reveals principles that could guide state antitrust-enforcement priorities, to promote complementarity in federal and state antitrust policy, and thereby advance consumer welfare. Discussion Positive analysis reveals that state antitrust enforcement is a firmly entrenched feature of American antitrust policy. The U.S. Supreme ... What is the Appropriate Role for State Antitrust Enforcement?
The Contestable Platform Paradox
Why do digital industries routinely lead to one company having a very large share of the market (at least if one defines markets narrowly)? To anyone familiar with competition policy discussions, the answer might seem obvious: network effects, scale-related economies, and other barriers to entry lead to winner-take-all dynamics in platform industries. Accordingly, it is ... The Contestable Platform Paradox
A First Glance at the Biden Executive Order on Competition: The Good and the Bad (Including Much that Looks Ugly)
The Biden Administration’s July 9 Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy is very much a mixed bag—some positive aspects, but many negative ones. It will have some positive effects on economic welfare, to the extent it succeeds in lifting artificial barriers to competition that harm consumers and workers—such as allowing direct sales ... A First Glance at the Biden Executive Order on Competition: The Good and the Bad (Including Much that Looks Ugly)
