The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. TECHNOLOGY
International negotiators continue to spar over the future of Internet governance.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President of Policy Wayne Crews on how eager bureaucrats around the world are to exercise control over the future of the Internet:
“Regulators across the globe have long lobbied for greater control over Internet commerce and content. A French court has attempted to force Yahoo! to block the sale of offensive Nazi materials to French citizens. An Australian court has ruled that the online edition of Barron’s, could be subjected to Aussie libel laws—which, following the British example, is much more intolerant of free speech than our own law. Chinese officials—with examples too numerous for this space—continue to seek to censor Internet search engines.”
2. TECHNOLOGY
MySpace.com moves to block unauthorized use of copyrighted music by its users.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Analyst James Plummer on how to expand the market’s role in protecting intellectual property:
“Enforcement costs for protection of old models—encouraged and calcified by congressional expansion of the length of copyright terms—are mounting. Some rights holders are now developing promising new business models that recognize these realities. To encourage this trend, lawmakers should consider dismantling regulatory barriers—particularly antitrust—obstructing the development of potentially superior alternatives to legal copyright protection.”
3. ENVIRONMENT
European regulators press for a tax on airline travel in the interest of battling global warming.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray on the loony implications of demonizing airline travel:
“George Monbiot – the green activist whose perceived wackiness inspired the label “Moonbat” – is at it again. This time he says sport is killing the planet. In this respect, surely Monbiot should give America some credit. After all, we always hear how no-one outside America is interested in Football, Baseball or Hockey. It’s soccer, cricket and rugby that involve the most international travel, to say nothing of Track and Field and Formula One. If more countries played only their own sports, perhaps shared with a couple of close neighbors, this problem wouldn’t be as significant. Of course, Brits and Australians would have less understanding of India and Africa, but that’s a small price to pay, surely.”