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ITIF: Events
ITIF Event: Designed for Change: End-to-End Arguments, Internet Innovation, and the Net Neutrality Debate
Many advocates of strict net neutrality regulation argue that the Internet has always been a “dumb pipe” and that Congress should require that it remains so. A new report by ITIF Research Fellow Richard Bennett reviews [...]
Those who follow tech policy have probably noticed that, as of this spring, an increasing hue and cry is being raised about the cost of those telecommunications services which are dubbed “special access.”
Most people’s inclination, when they hear the term “special access,” is to dismiss the issue as unimportant. After all, if it’s something [...]
Trusted sources tell me Blair Levin is headed back to the FCC to be the Commissar of the People’s Glorious Five Year Plan for the Production of Bandwidth. He’d be a wonderful choice, of course, because he’s a bright and humorous fellow with no particular delusions about what he knows and what he doesn’t know. [...]
Amy Schatz of the WSJ reports that a deal has been struck to move the new nominees into the FCC:
Work has slowed to a crawl at the Federal Communications Commission, since President Barack Obama’s pick to be chairman, Julius Genachowski, is still awaiting Senate confirmation.
But the logjam could be broken soon: Republicans appear to have [...]
See IEEE Spectrum for a few observations on the FCC’s request for comments on the National Broadband Plan:
Comments are due Monday, June 8, at the FCC on the National Broadband Plan (NBP.) The Notice of Inquiry lists some 120 questions that the Commission would like filers to address, running the gamut from goals and benchmarks [...]
The New York Times reports that regulators have an interest in the structure of the Apple and Google boards of directors:
The Federal Trade Commission has begun an inquiry into whether the close ties between the boards of two of technology’s most prominent companies, Apple and Google, amount to a violation of antitrust laws, according to [...]
If you read books, you’ll want to know what Robert Darnton has to say about the pending Google book deal, in Google & the Future of Books – The New York Review of Books. Here’s a teaser:
As an unintended consequence, Google will enjoy what can only be called a monopoly—a monopoly of a new kind, [...]
The long-awaited nomination of Julius Genachowski to the FCC chair finally came to pass yesterday, raising questions about the delay. If everybody with an interest in telecom and Internet regulation knew he was the choice months ago, why did the official announcement take so long? I have no inside information, so I’ll leave it [...]
In a rare move, the DC Circuit has upheld an FCC decision
The cable industry has won a big legal victory in the fiercely competitive phone services market. An appeals court has supported the Federal Communications Commission in its ruling that phone carriers—in this case Verizon—can’t try to lure back customers after they’ve initiated a service [...]
Among my missions in this life is the chore of explaining networking in general and the Internet in particular to policy makers and other citizens who don’t build network technology for a living. This is enjoyable because it combines so many of the things that make me feel good: gadgetry, technology, public policy, writing, talking, [...]
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