The Open Market Blog

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

Last month, I reported that the Electronic Frontier Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union had submitted a Freedom of Information Act request…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

Doug Bandow's post on the weak economy hurting the environmental movement got me thinking. Specifically, it got me thinking about Stuff White People…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/08/2008

Yesterday, I reported on the conclusion of the XM-Sirius merger and what it says about the fate of the potential Dish-DirecTV merger. Now, there…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

The always hilarious online comic Toothpastefordinner does a send-off of tax policy.

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

Several weeks ago, I reported on Bell Canada’s attempt to resolve congestion issues on its network by throttling heavy P2P users. Some doubted…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

Apparently, positive portrayals of marital sex are just not super-interesting to TV viewers. So finds a study by the Parents Television Council. The PTC…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

It looks like Dish Network and DirecTV are once again considering a merger. The companies must believe the deal would be greatly mutually-beneficial, if…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/06/2008

For the first time ever, the Committee on Presidential Debates has partnered with a website. MySpace, the social networking site that has come under…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/05/2008

Yesterday, I posted on a new technology, called Selectable Output Control, that will allow customers to get movies on their TVs only a…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/05/2008

A group of artists called the Center for Creative Voices in Media has filed an amicus brief in the case now before the Supreme…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/05/2008

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals just handed a victory to Cablevision, a provider of remote DVRs. Unlike regular DVRs, which store your recordings…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/04/2008

It's time for another Philosopher's Corner, an exploration of libertarian issues from a perspective of justice, not consequences. Libertarian political philosophers agree about…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/04/2008

Bad news today for lovers of liberty and lovers of video games. Thailand has just banned Grand Theft Auto IV, following an incident…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/04/2008

A new use for TV cables has got some consumer groups up in arms. Yes, you read that right: a new use for…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/04/2008

A while back, the FTC proposed voluntary rules governing behavioral advertising. The Commission sought comments on its rules, and many organizations…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/01/2008

I just reported on a big case of an administrative agency and Congress opposing each other in their regulatory decisions. Now, there’s another. Though…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/01/2008

The U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission finally rewrote their rules governing how businesses must disclose information to the public to allow businesses to post…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/01/2008

I reported last month on a remarkable Ninth Circuit ruling holding that border police can search citizens’ laptops without cause. Now, the Department of…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/01/2008

Anyone waking up at noon today and looking into net neutrality issues would have found two ironically juxtaposed headlines facing them. First, the big…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/01/2008

CNET's Marguerite Reardon reports: A judge in California has ruled that Sprint Nextel's early termination fees are illegal and said the wireless operator…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/31/2008

Last month, Google slightly improved the relevancy of the ads it displays when you search for something. In addition to taking your last…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/31/2008

I reported here earlier on public safety agencies holding up spectrum owed to Sprint-Nextel. I also reported on repeated demands for even…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/30/2008

In addition to massive federal probes of the deal, the nonexclusive Google-Yahoo ad pact is facing scrutiny from states as well. The California…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/29/2008

Rather than trying to fight individual violators of copyright, the MPAA is creating a website with links to legitimate movie sources, like local movie…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/29/2008

Ars has a good discussion of the US Patent and Trademark Office’s recent switch in policy towards software patents. Before, the USPTO would issue…