The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update

1. ENERGY

Oil prices continue to fall after storm fears calm.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Warren Brookes Journalism Fellow Timothy P. Carney on how big business contributes to high gas prices. 

“These complaints hold traces of the truth: (1) We ought to be angry at big business for the high gas prices; and (2) there is something the government can do about it. But the problem is not corporate “price gouging” and the solution is not new subsidies or regulations. The corporate misbehavior causing high gas prices is what I call “subsidy suckling” and ‘regulatory robber-baronry.’”

2. HEALTH & SAFETY

States ask FDA to clarify biotech drug procedures.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Scholar Henry I. Miller on how the FDA approval process impedes drug development. 

“Instead of bean-counting and indulging in demagoguery, we should be trying to ascertain what fraction of mandated post-approval studies is really necessary, and FDA should clean up its backlog of superfluous post-marketing studies.”

3. COPYRIGHT

A French law requiring Apple to open its iTunes security protocols goes into effect.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Technology Analyst Peter Suderman on the law’s problematic effects. 

“France’s law would require that Apple release the technical details of the digital-rights management (DRM) scheme it uses on its iTunes music store in the name of interoperability. Currently, songs purchased from iTunes can be played only on computers with iTunes software and Apple’s iPod portable MP3 players—in other words, devices managed by Apple. This allows Apple to constrain the use of the songs to certified software and devices, giving them more control over the listener’s experience. It also puts a damper on illegal copying and distribution, giving the record companies who license Apple to sell the songs some peace of mind.”

Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI Open Market.

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