IPcentral Weblog
  The DACA Blog
  Institutions
     
  Tanks
     
  Blogs
     
  Mags
     
Cable (see all subjects)
 

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Abolishing the FCC and Other Fun Thoughts

Just the other day, leaders from the House and Senate said they planned on updating the Communications Act. Maybe they've finally started listening to us - we proposed doing this back in 2005, with PFF's Digital Age Communications Act (DACA). Or, perhaps the FCC's so-called "Third Way" doesn't look like the "no-brainer" that the agency spun in its press releases. Well, whatever their intentions may be, it certainly couldn't arrive at a better time.

The framing is all important, of course. Art Brodsky of Public Knowledge (ostensibly one of the groups "writing" the next Act) says Americans shouldn't worry about the FCC's "Third Way." In his view - "The government is not taking over the Internet. What the government is doing is engaging in traditional consumer protection, traditional regulation of a telecommunications service that will get people to the Internet." PK seems happy with this model - whether done at the FCC, or at Congress' hands.

Hmmm...Getting people to the Internet? Traditional, simple stuff. Sort of like strolling to the store, or peddling to the park. Or, like in childhood, making a call from tin cans and string - which is what'll result if PK and their ilk have their way.

Continue reading Abolishing the FCC and Other Fun Thoughts . . .

posted by Mike Wendy @ 2:11 PM | Antitrust & Competition Policy, Broadband, Cable, Communications, DACA, Innovation, Internet, Local Franchising, Mass Media, Media Regulation, Net Neutrality, PFF, Regulation, Spectrum, State Policy, The FCC, The FTC, Universal Service, Wireless

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (7)

Monday, April 26, 2010

PFF LTE in NY Times - Let's Not Regulate the Internet

PFF was fortunate enough to get a letter-to-the-editor published in the NY Times this weekend, responding to the paper's call for broad Net Neutrality rules which would regulate broadband services.

Regulate the Internet?

To the Editor:

In "The F.C.C. and the Internet" (editorial, April 19), you ignore two important facts to arrive at your sweeping conclusion that the Federal Communications Commission must regulate the Internet to ensure its health and growth.

Continue reading PFF LTE in NY Times - Let's Not Regulate the Internet . . .

posted by Mike Wendy @ 1:00 PM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Internet, Net Neutrality, PFF, Regulation, The FCC, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (1)

Sunday, April 25, 2010

event reminder: "Cable, Broadcast & the First Amendment: Will the Supreme Court End Must-Carry?"

Just a reminder that PFF is hosting a panel discussion on "Cable, Broadcast & the First Amendment: Will the Supreme Court End Must-Carry?" this Tuesday (April 27th) from 10:00-11:45 a.m at Hogan & Hartson LLP (555 13th Street NW, Washington, DC). To hold a seat, please RSVP for the event here.

The event features an all-star cast representing all sides (cable, broadcast and programming) of the fight over the FCC's must-carry rules, which require cable television systems to dedicate some of their channels to local broadcast television stations. The Supreme Court narrowly upheld these "must-carry" rules in the mid-1990s. But last year's DC Circuit decision striking down the FCC's 30% cap on cable ownership lead Cablevision to challenge the must-carry rules. The Supreme Court will soon announce whether it will review the Second Circuit's decision last June upholding the rules. Speakers at our event include:


  • Dan Brenner, Partner, Hogan & Hartson LLP; former director of regulatory and legal affairs at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA)

  • Matt Brill, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP; counsel for Discovery Communications, amicus in Cablevision case; former Senior Legal Advisor to FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy

  • Jack Goodman, Counsel, WilmerHale; former general counsel of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)

  • Howard Symons, Member, Mintz Levin; counsel for Cablevision; former Senior Counsel to House Subcommittee on Telecommunications


Berin Szoka and I will co-moderate the session. Hope to see you Tuesday. Register for the event here.

posted by Adam Thierer @ 11:42 PM | Cable, Events, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, April 23, 2010

K Street Misinformation Pours into Gutter - FCC Must Know Limits of Its Magic

A lot of misinformation has recently emerged about the FCC's so-called ability to dodge the uncomfortable implications of Comcast v. FCC, and effortlessly reclassify information services into common carrier services. As if this can be done, willy-nilly, with some regulatory incantation that only the Chairman of the present Commission can whip up.

Not surprisingly, many media outlets - old and new - seem all too willing to support Internet policy changes without critical analysis other than: "Did Bush regulators 'screw up the Internet' by keeping it free of regulation? Then going in the opposite direction is alright" (check out this doozey by the NY Times to get an idea).

Continue reading K Street Misinformation Pours into Gutter - FCC Must Know Limits of Its Magic . . .

posted by Mike Wendy @ 2:28 PM | Antitrust & Competition Policy, Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Internet, Net Neutrality, Regulation, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Reclassification of Broadband Internet Access: No Slam Dunk

I was invited to participate in an April 13th conference call hosted by Kelly Cobb on behalf of the Internet Freedom Coalition to discuss the D.C. Circuit's recent decision in Comcast v. FCC and its impact on the FCC's Open Internet rulemaking proceeding. My task was to offer an explanation of the procedure by which the FCC might attempt to impose the Communications Act's "Title II" regulations on the Internet without congressional authority or approval, and what judicial challenges might emerge from such an action. What follows are my remarks, as prepared for presentation.

Continue reading Reclassification of Broadband Internet Access: No Slam Dunk . . .

posted by Barbara Esbin @ 1:52 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Net Neutrality, Neutrality, The FCC, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (35)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Nobles Must Follow the Law

image of scales of justice

The D.C. Circuit ruled today in favor of Comcast in the company's challenge to an FCC enforcement action concerning its provision of Internet service. The court's ruling reaffirms the primacy of the rule of law and the legislative authority of Congress to determine whether and how our nation's communications networks are to be regulated. I have said from the outset in my "The Law is Whatever the Nobles Do" series that the FCC's action against Comcast's Internet network management practices was unlawful because Congress has not delegated to the FCC regulatory authority over the provision of Internet services, and the FCC may not self-generate such authority through creative use of the doctrine of implied or "ancillary jurisdiction." The court's decision rests on the foundational principles that the FCC's regulatory authority is not unbounded, the agency is not free to make it up as it goes along and the FCC possess no plenary authority to regulate an Internet service provider's network management practices. That is to say, the administrative nobles in our system must follow the laws as Congress writes them; they do not stand above the law and cannot self-generate their legal authority.

As the D.C. Circuit wrote, the FCC may properly exercise its ancillary jurisdiction over matters not expressly mentioned in the Communications Act, but only when that exercise is reasonably ancillary to—that is, in support of—an expressly-delegated regulatory responsibility. In its Comcast-BitTorrent Order, the FCC could not show, despite strenuous efforts, that regulating Internet network management practices was reasonably related to any of its express regulatory mandates in the Communications Act. This all-important limitation on the exercise of its implied powers, according to the court, is what keeps the agency from freeing itself "from its congressional tether." Paraphrasing an earlier Supreme Court decision, the court observed that the FCC's Comcast decision, not only "'strain[ed] the outer limits of even the open-ended and pervasive jurisdiction that has evolved by decisions of the Commission and the courts,'" it sought to "shatter them entirely."

Continue reading The Nobles Must Follow the Law . . .

posted by Barbara Esbin @ 4:16 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Net Neutrality, Neutrality, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (4)

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

C-SPAN, Civic-Minded Programming & Public Interest Regulation

C-SPAN is really quite incredible when you think about it. When I was growing up in the 70s, there was nothing like it. Like most other Americans, my informational inputs about national news and politics were limited to what a couple of old white dudes in bad suits delivered each night around 6:30 on the three VHF channels I had access to. And no national newspapers were delivered to my small town in rural Illinois, so I had to rely on crummy local papers to fill the void via whatever national reporting they offered, which wasn't much.

And then came C-SPAN. C-SPAN alone covers more political and civic-minded activity in the course of a week than most of us probably came into contact with in our entire lives just 30 years ago. Consider these data points, which Peter Kiley, Vice President of C-SPAN Networks was kind enough to help me aggregate. In the 2009 calendar year, C-SPAN provided the following amount of first run programming across their three channels:


  • 8,438 overall hours of programming;

  • 2,709 hours of House & Senate floor activity; and,

  • 1,222 hours of House & Senate committee hearings.


Moreover, C-SPAN recently created the C-SPAN Video Library, which archives 23 years worth (1987-on) of fully searchable (and free) video content, including:

Continue reading C-SPAN, Civic-Minded Programming & Public Interest Regulation . . .

posted by Adam Thierer @ 4:38 PM | Cable, Mass Media, Media Regulation

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, January 15, 2010

R.I.P. Ancillary Jurisdiction; Hello Common Carriage

Photo of mock RIP tombstone, copyright Tammra McCauleyMy latest contribution to the ever-expanding network neutrality literature are comments filed in the Federal Communications Commission's Network Neutrality rulemaking proceeding.  My comments demonstrate that adoption of the network neutrality rules proposed in the NPRM would be unlawful because Congress did not give the Federal Communications Commission authority to protect Internet "openness."

The NPRM, incorporating by reference the jurisdictional theory stated in the Commission's 2008 Comcast P2P Order, asserts that the Commission has ancillary authority to prescribe rules principally under two statutory provisions: to implement the "federal Internet policy" contained in section 230(b) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and to achieve the statutory goal of encouraging broadband deployment pursuant to section 706(a) of the Act. It also appears to rely, at least to some extent, on sections 1, 201(b), and 257, and more broadly on whole titles of the Act - II, III, and VI. My comments examine the Commissions' jurisdictional theory in great detail, and conclude that there is simply "no jurisdictional 'there' there." None of these provisions, taken singly or together, provide a legal basis for the Commission to regulate the provision of Internet services.

Continue reading R.I.P. Ancillary Jurisdiction; Hello Common Carriage . . .

posted by Barbara Esbin @ 12:44 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Internet, Net Neutrality, Neutrality, Regulation, The FCC, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Cutting the Video Cord: Pro-Regulatory NYT Realizes "Cable Freedom Is a Click Away"

Three months ago, when the DC Circuit struck down the FCC's "Cable Cap"--which prevented any one cable company from serving more than 30% of US households out of fear that he larger cable companies would use their "gatekeeper" power to restrict programming--the New York Times bemoaned the decision:

The problem with the cap is not that it is too onerous, but that it is not demanding enough.

Even with the cap -- and satellite television -- there is a disturbing lack of price competition. The cable companies have resisted letting customers choose, a la carte, the channels they actually watch....

[The FCC] needs to ensure that customers have an array of choices among cable providers, and that there is real competition on price and program offerings.


Perhaps the Times' editors should have consulted with the Lead Technology Writer of their excellent BITS blog. Nick Bilton might have told him the truth: "Cable Freedom Is a Click Away." That's the title of his excellent survey of devices and services (Hulu, Boxee, iTunes, Joost, YouTube, etc.) that allow users to get cable television programming without a cable subscription.

Nick explains that consumers can "cut the video cord" and still find much, if not all, their favorite cable programming--as well as the vast offerings of online video--without a hefty monthly subscription. (Adam recently described how Clicker.com is essentially TV guide for the increasing cornucopia ofInternet video.) This makes the 1992 Cable Act's requirement that the FCC impose a cable cap nothing more than the vestige of a bygone era of platform scarcity, predating not just the Internet, but also competing subscription services offered by satellite and telcos over fiber. That's precisely what we argued in PFF's amicus brief to the DC Circuit a year ago, and largely why the court ultimately struck down the cap.

Bilton notes that "this isn't as easy as just plugging a computer into a monitor, sitting back and watching a movie. There's definitely a slight learning curve." But, as he describes, cutting the cord isn't rocket science. If getting used to using a wireless mouse is the thing that most keeps consumers "enslaved" to the cable "gatekeepers" the FCC frets so much about, what's the big deal? Does government really need to set aside the property and free speech rights of cable operators to run their own networks just because some people may not be as quick to dump cable as Bilton? Is the lagtime between early adopters and mainstream really such a problem that we would risk maintaining outdated systems of architectural censorship (Chris Yoo's brilliant term) that give government control over speech in countless subtle and indirect ways?

Continue reading Cutting the Video Cord: Pro-Regulatory NYT Realizes "Cable Freedom Is a Click Away" . . .

posted by Berin Szoka @ 10:20 AM | Antitrust & Competition Policy, Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Reviving Open Access

The Wall Street Journal reports that "FCC staff also are studying whether to revive 'open access' rules, which would require Internet providers to lease their networks to rivals at government-regulated prices." "Revive" is an interesting choice of words, as it implies that such rules were once alive, but are presently dead, or at least comatose. But in the case of cable Internet service providers, it is simply wrong. Cable modem service, a term the FCC invented for high-speed Internet over cable service, has never been subjected by the FCC to "open access" or, more precisely, common carrier regulation. Not once; not ever.

Scott Cleland wrote a nice little piece on the tendency of net neutrality advocates to re-write Internet history so that the steady movement away from government ownership and control, including economic regulation, during the Clinton Administration is air-brushed out of history. My point is less global, but no less important. The terms, conditions and prices of cable modem service at both the retail and wholesale level have never been subject to regulation.

Instead, the FCC made the conscious decision to classify the service not as a highly regulated common carrier telecommunications service, but rather as a then-unregulated "information service." This decision was made for the purpose of encouraging broadband deployment and permitting such Internet services to be provided in a minimally-regulated environment, and it was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Brand X case. And, yes, the FCC launched a companion rule-making to consider whether to impose any special requirements on this information service pursuant to its Title I "ancillary jurisdiction. But it has never acted on that proposal. Thus, there is no rate-regulated leasing of cable modem lines for regulators to revive.

But I digress. The real story is that the FCC, for the first time, is seriously considering imposing common carrier-like economic regulation on cable Internet providers, in the context of its charge from Congress to develop a "National Broadband Plan" to increase broadband deployment. Setting that irony aside for the moment, we can, and will, debate the merits and drawbacks of the open access issue for some time to come (and rest assured, it will feel like Groundhog Day for many of us). But let's not start the debate from the false premise that we are just returning to the good old days of yore.

posted by Barbara Esbin @ 5:36 PM | Cable, Net Neutrality, Neutrality, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (1)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Cutting the Video Cord: US Open Streamed Online for "Free"

posted by Berin Szoka @ 9:40 PM | Advertising & Marketing, Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Court Strikes Down FCC's Cable Cap: The Revolution in Video Distribution in Three Charts

posted by Berin Szoka @ 11:40 AM | Antitrust & Competition Policy, Cable, Cutting the Video Cord, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Good-Bye, Humpty Dumpty?

posted by Barbara Esbin @ 4:52 PM | Broadband, Cable, Net Neutrality, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Free Press Hypocrisy over Metering & Internet Price Controls

posted by Adam Thierer @ 11:11 PM | Broadband, Cable, Economics, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The (Un)Free Press Calls for Internet Price Controls: "The Broadband Internet Fairness Act"

posted by Adam Thierer @ 8:15 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Economics, Net Neutrality

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Sometimes Not Sharing Your Toys is the Right Approach

posted by Barbara Esbin @ 10:07 AM | Cable, Communications, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Vertical Dis-integration

posted by Barbara Esbin @ 2:29 PM | Cable, Mass Media, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, February 6, 2009

A Tale of Two Reports

posted by Amy Smorodin @ 11:03 AM | Cable, Communications, Internet TV, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Cutting the (Video) Cord: YouTube Close to Deal for Pro Talent

posted by Berin Szoka @ 11:31 AM | Cable, Internet TV

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Monday, January 26, 2009

Cutting the (Video) Cord: Who Needs a DVR When You've Got Hulu?

posted by Berin Szoka @ 9:40 PM | Cable, Internet TV

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Cutting the (Video) Cord: Boxee

posted by Berin Szoka @ 2:24 PM | Cable, Communications, Internet TV

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Thursday, January 8, 2009

PFF Amicus Brief in Key First Amendment Case: Limits on Audience Size are Unconstitutional

posted by Berin Szoka @ 3:56 PM | Cable, Communications

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Monday, December 29, 2008

Cable's Adventures in FCC Land

posted by Barbara Esbin @ 3:38 PM | Cable, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Chairman Martin's A La Carte Crusade Exposed

posted by W. Kenneth Ferree @ 12:30 PM | A La Carte, Cable, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Cuban on Bandwidth Tradeoffs

posted by Adam Thierer @ 12:37 PM | Broadband, Cable, Net Neutrality

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Will Traditional OTA Broadcast Networks Go Cable-Exclusive?

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:41 AM | Cable, Mass Media, Spectrum

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, November 21, 2008

High Speed Dragnet

posted by Barbara Esbin @ 11:09 AM | Cable, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Cutting the (Video) Cord, Part 2

posted by Adam Thierer @ 12:32 PM | Cable, Innovation, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, November 14, 2008

Call Me Ishmael

posted by W. Kenneth Ferree @ 12:31 PM | Cable, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, November 7, 2008

The NFL's Anti-Consumer, Anti-Free Market Bullying Should Stop

posted by W. Kenneth Ferree @ 9:02 AM | Cable, Sports

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Monday, October 6, 2008

Cutting the (Video) Cord: The Shift to Online Video Continues

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:44 PM | Broadband, Cable, Economics, Innovation, Mass Media, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

"Feds and Internet Service Providers Don't Mix"

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:08 PM | Cable, Net Neutrality

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, September 26, 2008

More Must-Carry or Another Federal Bailout?

posted by W. Kenneth Ferree @ 12:02 PM | Cable, Spectrum

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Tim Wu on Obama, McCain, and "a Chicken in Every Pot"

posted by Adam Thierer @ 3:20 PM | Broadband, Cable, Campaign Finance Law, Commons, Communications, Mass Media, Net Neutrality, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Summary of Martin's 'War on Cable'

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:30 PM | A La Carte, Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Another 4 months, still no FCC Video Competition Report

posted by Adam Thierer @ 2:12 PM | Cable, Mass Media, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Media Metrics: The Report

posted by Adam Thierer @ 2:35 PM | Cable, Economics, Innovation, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Where is the FCC's Annual Video Competition Report?

posted by Adam Thierer @ 2:05 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Economics, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Ike Elliott's "fiber vs. coax" series

posted by Adam Thierer @ 12:45 PM | Broadband, Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

USA Today's story about the Martin FCC

posted by Adam Thierer @ 9:26 AM | Cable, Free Speech, Generic Rant, Mass Media, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Winback Wars: The Politics of Customer Retention

posted by Adam Thierer @ 9:52 PM | Cable, Communications

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Monday, February 4, 2008

TorrentFreak on "Solutions to the BitTorrent Problem"

posted by Adam Thierer @ 9:45 PM | Broadband, Cable, Net Neutrality

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, January 11, 2008

While the FCC wages a war on cable...

posted by Adam Thierer @ 11:23 AM | Cable, Innovation, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Suits With Their Hands Out

posted by W. Kenneth Ferree @ 9:45 AM | Cable, Sports

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, November 30, 2007

Cable TV "Gatekeeper" Myths Debunked

posted by Adam Thierer @ 2:07 PM | Cable, Mass Media, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

National Review on FCC's Cable War

posted by Adam Thierer @ 12:33 PM | Cable, Communications, Mass Media, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Thursday, November 29, 2007

FCC Budget: Out of Control

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:32 AM | Cable, Communications, Mass Media, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Setting the Record Straight on Current FCC Policies

posted by Adam Thierer @ 9:37 AM | A La Carte, Cable, Communications, Mass Media, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Monday, November 19, 2007

FCC's regulatory wrecking ball decimating cable stocks?

posted by Adam Thierer @ 2:37 PM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Thursday, November 15, 2007

FCC's 70% Cable Proposal is 100% Unwarranted

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:50 AM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Bruce Owen on "Antecedents to Net Neutrality"

posted by Adam Thierer @ 9:24 PM | Cable, Communications, Internet, Net Neutrality, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Unplugging Plug-and-Play Regulation

posted by Adam Thierer @ 3:05 PM | Cable, Innovation, Interoperability

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, August 10, 2007

A La Carte: Voluntary vs. Mandatory

posted by Adam Thierer @ 3:44 PM | A La Carte, Cable, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Need. More. TV.

posted by Scott Wallsten @ 3:47 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Internet, Local Franchising, The FCC, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Sports and Fetishes

posted by Amy Smorodin @ 4:27 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Events, Internet, Local Franchising, Net Neutrality, Sports, VoIP

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The Magic Number of Competitors

posted by Patrick Ross @ 4:29 PM | Cable, Economics, Net Neutrality

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Another Case of "Rights Inflation": Sports on Cable TV

posted by Adam Thierer @ 2:56 PM | A La Carte, Cable, Economics, Free Speech, Generic Rant, Mass Media, Sports

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, July 14, 2006

Louisiana -- Please Don't Invest Here!

posted by Ray Gifford @ 12:23 PM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, July 7, 2006

Coase, Property Rights, Regulation and Rentseeking

posted by Ray Gifford @ 1:36 AM | Cable, Digital TV, Economics, IP, Innovation, Mass Media, Net Neutrality

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, June 16, 2006

Net Neutrality for Sports -- Forced unbundling by any other name

posted by Ray Gifford @ 1:36 AM | A La Carte, Broadband, Cable, Net Neutrality

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Friday, June 9, 2006

Coping with COPE

posted by Ray Gifford @ 2:09 AM | Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Net Neutrality, State Policy, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, May 9, 2006

CEO Speaks the Truth

posted by Patrick Ross @ 10:10 AM | Broadband, Cable, Internet, Net Neutrality

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Net Neutrality: Remembering the Little Ones

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 8:32 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, DACA, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, VoIP, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Do You Really "Save the Internet" By Regulating It?

posted by Adam Thierer @ 11:07 AM | Cable, Communications, Free Speech, Net Neutrality, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, April 6, 2006

New Neutrality Proposals: Ask Me No Questions, Tell Me No . . .

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 6:54 PM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, The FCC, VoIP, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Monday, April 3, 2006

Build-Out Requirements... No, Thank You.

posted by Solveig Singleton @ 1:04 PM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Adjudicating Network Neutrality: Upsides, Downsides and Practical Implications

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 11:47 PM | Antitrust & Competition Policy, Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, DACA, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, The FCC, VoIP, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Bundle?

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 11:16 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, VoIP, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Network Neutrality: It's the Jurisdiction, Stupid

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 8:22 PM | Antitrust & Competition Policy, Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, DACA, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, Supreme Court, The FCC, VoIP, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Did Senators Hear Randy's Call for Reform?

posted by @ 8:43 AM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, State Policy, The FCC, Think Tanks, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, February 17, 2006

Worms in the Apple?

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 1:02 PM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, DACA, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, VoIP, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Monday, February 13, 2006

More on New FCC A La Carte Report

posted by Adam Thierer @ 4:37 PM | A La Carte, Cable, Free Speech, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, February 9, 2006

Initial Thoughts on the FCC's Revised A La Carte Report

posted by Adam Thierer @ 2:33 PM | A La Carte, Cable, Free Speech, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, January 20, 2006

A La Carte Rentseeking--Where Does It End?

posted by Ray Gifford @ 6:05 AM | A La Carte, Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Theoretically Speaking: Trinko and Broadband

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 12:19 AM | Antitrust & Competition Policy, Broadband, Cable, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, Supreme Court, The FCC, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Two New PFF Editorials on A La Carte

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:20 AM | Cable, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, January 13, 2006

Honey? Did You Know the Kids Were Learning How to Think Like Suicide Bombers?

posted by Patrick Ross @ 11:52 AM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Wednesday, January 4, 2006

VZ Video To Go Into Howard County

posted by @ 11:43 AM | Cable, Communications, State Policy

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, December 16, 2005

Family-Friendly Tiering as Censorship

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:40 AM | Cable, Free Speech, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Franchising Detente--Get to the Real Issues

posted by Ray Gifford @ 1:00 AM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

A "Voluntary" Charade: The "Family-Friendly Tier" Case Study

posted by Adam Thierer @ 2:57 PM | Cable, Free Speech, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Monday, December 12, 2005

Top Ten Family Friendly Tier Shows

posted by Ray Gifford @ 10:54 PM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Monday, December 5, 2005

A La Carte: Moral Aspects of the Debate

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:10 PM | Cable, Free Speech, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Competition Dividend?

posted by @ 6:32 AM | Cable, State Policy, Think Tanks, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

FCC on A La Carte Programming: Bad Idea Du Jour

posted by Solveig Singleton @ 10:26 AM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, November 18, 2005

In Search of Appropriate Social Goals in Communications Regulation

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 1:12 AM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Free Speech, Innovation, Internet, Mass Media, The FCC, Universal Service, VoIP, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, November 3, 2005

State and Localities Put on Notice

posted by @ 6:37 PM | Broadband, Cable, State Policy, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

A Silver Lining to Net Neutrality Merger Conditions?

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 4:02 PM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, The FCC, VoIP, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, November 1, 2005

Another test drive for net neutrality?

posted by Ray Gifford @ 6:10 PM | Cable, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, October 28, 2005

Franchising--It's about the taxes

posted by Ray Gifford @ 10:42 AM | Cable, Communications, Universal Service, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, October 14, 2005

Crossing Thresholds: Questioning the Ends and Means of Social Regulation in Communications

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 8:38 PM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, General, Innovation, Internet, Mass Media, Net Neutrality, The FCC, Universal Service, VoIP, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, September 16, 2005

Communications Reform and "Social" Obligations: Looking for Another Way

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 6:27 PM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, The FCC, Universal Service, VoIP, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Long Live Public Interest Regulation!

posted by Adam Thierer @ 11:07 AM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Mass Media, VoIP, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Monday, September 12, 2005

More Thoughts on eBay-Skype Merger and What It Means for Net Neutrality Debate in Particular

posted by Adam Thierer @ 11:18 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Innovation, VoIP, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

To Be or Not to Be: EBay as Phone Company?

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 3:00 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Innovation, Internet, The FCC, Universal Service, VoIP, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, September 9, 2005

Cable Ownership Caps Reconsidered

posted by Adam Thierer @ 11:10 AM | Cable, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, August 26, 2005

Reasonableness in Video Service Deployment

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 1:46 AM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, August 25, 2005

GoogleTalk and Net Neutrality: A Cautionary Tale

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 11:39 AM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, Supreme Court, The FCC, VoIP, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Answering the Call?

posted by @ 3:01 PM | Cable, Capitol Hill, State Policy, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Is Section 621(a)(1) Unreasonable?

posted by @ 2:51 PM | Cable, State Policy, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, August 19, 2005

The FCC and Organization Development

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 10:17 AM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Mass Media, Spectrum, The FCC, VoIP, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Downsides to Deregulating Broadband??

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 7:00 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Mass Media, Supreme Court, The FCC, Wireless, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Net Neutrality Mandates After the FCC's Policy Statement

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 6:05 PM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, Supreme Court, The FCC, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, August 4, 2005

Wireline Deregulation: A Broadband Review Lesson

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 9:52 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, Supreme Court, The FCC, Universal Service, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

A Refresher Course on the Pitfalls of A La Carte Regulation

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:14 PM | Cable, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Monday, July 11, 2005

Post-Brand X: A Broader Look at Consumer Protection

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 6:47 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, July 7, 2005

Openness Post-Brand X: It begins . . .

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 2:18 PM | Broadband, Cable, Capitol Hill, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, Supreme Court

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Governor's Call

posted by @ 2:14 PM | Cable, State Policy, Think Tanks

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, June 30, 2005

FCC Regulation of Service Bundles??

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 1:30 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Innovation, Internet, VoIP, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Broadband Post-Brand X: The Long and Winding Road

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 3:50 PM | Broadband, Broadband, Cable, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, The FCC, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, June 9, 2005

Video Over Fiber: Rhetorical Ironies and Inconsistencies

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 8:28 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Innovation, Internet, Universal Service

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, June 7, 2005

McSlarrow gets it...

posted by Ray Gifford @ 4:22 PM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, June 3, 2005

Filling the Ranks

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 4:53 PM | Cable, Communications, Mass Media, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Texas Tussle: Consumers Lose

posted by Ray Gifford @ 2:16 AM | Broadband, Cable, State Policy

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Is Judge Dillon in the Texas House?

posted by @ 11:27 AM | Cable, Communications, State Policy

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, May 6, 2005

What's Left of Title I After the Broadcast Flag Case?

posted by Ray Gifford @ 4:15 PM | Broadband, Cable, Digital TV, IP, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Footnotes We Edited Out, or a Convoluted Solution to Redlining

posted by Ray Gifford @ 11:05 AM | Broadband, Cable, Wireline

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, April 29, 2005

Another Lesson from a Mad River, Courtesy of Professor Lessig

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 11:25 AM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Net Neutrality, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, April 21, 2005

"Hill Ponders Regulating Convergence": A Note on the Proper Way to Solve "Level Playing Field" Concerns

posted by Adam Thierer @ 9:57 AM | Cable, Communications, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Your Telephone Company Will Be Your Next Cable Company

posted by Adam Thierer @ 10:52 AM | Cable, Communications, Mass Media

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Brand X: Whither FCC Deference?

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 6:11 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, Supreme Court, The FCC

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, March 24, 2005

CableCards Revisited: The Good, the Bad on the Modular

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 9:44 PM | Cable, Digital TV, Economics, Interoperability

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, March 3, 2005

Telco Video and Digital Must Carry: Making a "Problem" Worse

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 5:54 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Cable-Telco Video Competition: Beyond Level Playing Fields

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 3:37 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications, General, State Policy

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Thursday, February 17, 2005

FCC on Wireless Broadband and Must Carry: No Lame Ducks Here

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 11:05 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Monday, February 7, 2005

Do No Harm: Re-writing a Prescription for Cable Competition

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 7:10 PM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, February 4, 2005

TV Privacy: The Economics of Creepiness

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 10:53 AM | Cable, Communications

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

CableCards, Competition and Modularity in the Digital Age

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 4:39 PM | Broadband, Cable, Communications

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Friday, December 3, 2004

Supremes to Consider Brand X

posted by Randolph May @ 3:24 PM | Cable, Supreme Court

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Wednesday, December 1, 2004

As visions of cable modems dance in their heads

posted by Kyle Dixon @ 11:23 AM | Cable, Supreme Court

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

SBC TV --You Say You Want A La Carte?

posted by Randolph May @ 4:06 PM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

Monday, November 22, 2004

Cable A La Carte

posted by Randolph May @ 5:51 PM | Cable

Link to this Entry | Printer-Friendly | Email a Comment |Post a Comment (0)

 
Blog Main
RSS Feed   
Recent Posts
  Abolishing the FCC and Other Fun Thoughts
PFF LTE in NY Times - Let's Not Regulate the Internet
event reminder: "Cable, Broadcast & the First Amendment: Will the Supreme Court End Must-Carry?"
K Street Misinformation Pours into Gutter - FCC Must Know Limits of Its Magic
Reclassification of Broadband Internet Access: No Slam Dunk
The Nobles Must Follow the Law
C-SPAN, Civic-Minded Programming & Public Interest Regulation
R.I.P. Ancillary Jurisdiction; Hello Common Carriage
Cutting the Video Cord: Pro-Regulatory NYT Realizes "Cable Freedom Is a Click Away"
Reviving Open Access
Archives by Month
  September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
  - (see all)
Archives by Topic
  A La Carte
Add category
Advertising & Marketing
Antitrust & Competition Policy
Appleplectics
Books & Book Reviews
Broadband
Cable
Campaign Finance Law
Capitalism
Capitol Hill
China
Commons
Communications
Copyright
Cutting the Video Cord
Cyber-Security
DACA
Digital Americas
Digital Europe
Digital Europe 2006
Digital TV
E-commerce
e-Government & Transparency
Economics
Education
Electricity
Energy
Events
Exaflood
Free Speech
Gambling
General
Generic Rant
Global Innovation
Googlephobia
Googlephobia
Human Capital
Innovation
Intermediary Deputization & Section 230
Internet
Internet Governance
Internet TV
Interoperability
IP
Local Franchising
Mass Media
Media Regulation
Monetary Policy
Municipal Ownership
Net Neutrality
Neutrality
Non-PFF Podcasts
Ongoing Series
Online Safety & Parental Controls
Open Source
PFF
PFF Podcasts
Philosophy / Cyber-Libertarianism
Privacy
Privacy Solutions
Regulation
Search
Security
Software
Space
Spectrum
Sports
State Policy
Supreme Court
Taxes
The FCC
The FTC
The News Frontier
Think Tanks
Trade
Trademark
Universal Service
Video Games & Virtual Worlds
VoIP
What We're Reading
Wireless
Wireline
Archives by Author
PFF Blogosphere Archive
We welcome comments by email - look for a link to the author's email address in the byline of each post. Please let us know if we may publish your remarks.
 










The Progress & Freedom Foundation