In the sixteenth paper in this year's series of Perspectives from FSF Scholars, Dennis Weisman, a member of the Free State Foundation's Board of Academic Advisors and Professor of Economics at Kansas State University, questions whether FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's "Third Way" proposal is more like Goldilocks or the Big Bad Wolf. In the end, he concludes "this may well be a distinction without a difference because, in this instance, even Goldilocks would appear to have some very big teeth!" Professor Weisman's critical analysis of Chairman Genachowski's proposal is grounded in the principle that: "In a market economy, the policy default is not economic regulation, but rather reliance upon the market for providing the requisite competitive discipline.Regulatory intervention is warranted only in the case of a non-transitory market failure and then only when the expected benefits of regulation exceed the costs."In his Perspectives paper, The "Third Way" for Broadband Regulation: Goldilocks or the Big Bad Wolf?, Professor Weisman concludes: "In the case of broadband regulation, neither of these two preconditions has been met." Read the full press release here.
On Tuesday, June 1, 2010, the Free State Foundation and the Information Technology and Information are jointly presenting a program, "After Comcast: What's Net for Net Neutrality?" The program will be from 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM at ITIF's offices located 1101 K Street, Nw, Suite 610, Washington, DC. Featured speakers include: Richard Bennett, Research Fellow, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation;James Cicconi, Senior Executive Vice President, External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T;Eric Klinker, Chief Executive Officer, BitTorrent;Randolph May, President, Free State Foundation;James Speta, Professor, Northwestern University School of Law; and Steven Teplitz, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, Time Warner Cable. All the event details are here.
Free State Foundation Distinguished Adjunct Senior Fellow Deborah Taylor Tate participated in the First Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit in Dallas sponsored by the East West Institute. The Summit aimed to mobilize new levels of attention to the international policy dimensions of cybersecurity, both for the private sector and governments. Discussions at the Summit, both in public and private, confirmed that there are large gaps in global arrangements to promote discreet aspects of cybersecurity, especially where important countries like China and Russia are concerned. For the letter from the director of the EWI's Worldwide Cybersecurity Initiative commending Ms. Tate, a former member of the FCC, on the leadership role she played at the summit, click here.
Free State Foundation President Randolph May argued against continued government funding of public media at an FCC hearing on April 30, 2010. He stated: "Whatever the merits of government funding for public broadcasting in 1967 when Congress enacted the Public Broadcasting Act to address certain perceived media 'market failures,' today's media marketplace is characterized by an abundance and diversity of media sources. This fact calls into question the need for such continued funding. When the government funds 'public media,' inevitably a tension arises between the government's involvement in content and programming decisions and First Amendment values that are at the core of our republic." The full press release is here.
Deborah Taylor Tate, Distinguished Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Free State Foundation, has been named to the Board of Directors of the Centerstone Research Institute (CRI). Centerstone is a unique not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving mental healthcare through research, information technology and clinical informatics. Tate is a former member of the Federal Communications Commission as well as a former Chairman of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority. The press release announcing Tate's appointment to the CRI Board is here.
In reply comments submitted today to the Federal Communications Commission, Randolph May, President of the Free State Foundation, and Seth Cooper, FSF Adjunct Fellow, urged the agency "to adopt a set of market-oriented analytical framework principles to govern consideration of special access issues consistent with a forward-looking perspective that reflects the dynamism of today's communications marketplace." Read the full press release here.
In a new Perspectives from FSF Scholars, Richard Epstein, one of the nation's foremost law and economic scholars, explains why a critic of the Comcast - NBCU merger has his analysis upside down. Professor Epstein explains why Mark Cooper, Director of Research for the Consumer Federation of America, "is not able to perform a minor intellectual miracle of having an upside down antitrust analysis saved by a topsy-turvy First Amendment analysis. Professor Epstein is Free State Foundation Distinguished Adjunct Senior Scholar. Read Professor Epstein's Perspectiveshere.
At the Free State Foundation's Annual Winter Telecom Policy Conference on January 29, 2010, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell gave a stirring opening keynote address which effectively made the case, backed up by lots of facts and figures, for regulatory modesty with respect to the FCC's broadband plan and the agency's proposal for new Internet regulation. Read the full text of "The Best Broadband Plan for America: First, Do No Harm"here.
For a quick reaction to the Supreme Court's important Citizens United decision striking down the ban on corporate campaign contributions, see What Citizens United Means for Free Speech in the Digital Age, by FSF Adjunct Fellow Seth L. Cooper on Janaury 22, 2010.
Free State Foundation President Randolph May has released the agenda for FSF's Annual Winter Telecom Policy Conference. The news release is here, and the conference agenda is here.
Randolph May, President of the Free State Foundation, has an essay on National Review Online opposing the Federal Communications Commission's proposal to implement net neutrality regulation. Read "Overregulating the Internet" here.
Free State Foundation President Randolph May and Adjunct Fellow Seth Cooper filed comments at the Federal Communications Commission on January 14, 2010, opposing the agency's proposal to adopt new Internet regulations.
For more information, contact: info@freestatefoundation.org Mailing Address: The Free State Foundation, P. O. Box 60680, Potomac, MD 20859 Office Location: 6259 Executive Blvd., Rockville, MD 20852 Phone: 301-984-8253