Needles in Haystacks
As expected, the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology FCC oversight hearing featured some controversy. Commissioners Pai and O’Riely pointed out just how severely the chairman has been depriving them of…
Fact-Checking Internet Association’s Amicus Brief
Politico reports that the Internet Association has filed an amicus brief in support of the FCC in the cases where Tennessee and North Carolina have challenged the commission’s attempt to…
FCC Clarifies the Ask for Wi-Fi Routers
As we explained recently, the FCC is asking for input on regulations for home routers with built-in Wi-Fi. Chief Engineer Julie Knapp has written a blog post clarifying his concerns…
Why Fast Networks are Secure and Pirated Software is Not
Conventional wisdom says that curated app stores like Apple’s are more secure than wild west downloads from random servers. This is true, of course, but being more secure doesn’t mean…
Three Challenges to the Internet of Things
There’s little doubt that the Internet of Things is the next wave of computing, the next chapter in the story that began more than 50 years ago and has already passed…
EU Parliament Avoids Disaster
The last blog post covered the similarities between the recently approved EU open Internet framework’s “specialized services” exception and the FCC’s comparable “Non-BIAS Data Services” exception to its 2015 Open Internet Order….
Open Internet Goes to Europe
Like most jurisdictions, the European Union believes it may need some additional regulations on Internet Service Providers now that the FCC has spoken. The traditional view of net neutrality in…
A Snake in the Briar Patch: Radio Interference
One of the ongoing issues in spectrum policy is the question of “causing interference to others”. It was at the heart of the LightSquared controversy; it’s central to the spectrum…
Open Source Software and Regulatory Compliance
Last week, I mentioned the tendency of some parties to drag extraneous issues and personal hobbyhorses into policy debates. This was a throw-away observation, but two issues in the news…
Why Spectrum Swaps Serve the Public Interest
A reporter asked me to explain what’s up with the spectrum swap that AT&T and T-Mobile have asked the FCC to let them do. The benefits are pretty simple and…