The Open Market Blog

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/11/2008

Senators Ron Wyden and Olympia Snowe are proposing a bill that would ban state and local governments from raising taxes on cell phones any…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/11/2008

As everyone who has read The Wisdom of the Crowds knows, prediction markets are excellent predictors of future events like elections. In fact,…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/11/2008

The FCC is set to begin testing white space broadcasts for interference with current technology, such as wireless microphones. The NFL and ESPN –…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/11/2008

The libertarian CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, called out Bill Gates in a speech on the virtues of capitalism. Gates’ view is that…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/11/2008

Get ready for a horrible new net neutrality precedent. Chairman Martin has publicly stated that he wants the FCC to rule against Comcast in…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/10/2008

Ars reports that Verizon has just settled a case claiming that the company violated California law by imposing early termination fees on the customers…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/10/2008

Last month, I posted about the rollout of Europe’s first WiMax network in Amsterdam. Just after my post, Sprint announced that it will…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/09/2008

Ars reports on the hysteria surrounding rising prices of some precious metals needed for electronics. The notion is that we’re quickly running out…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/09/2008

I reported earlier about the FCC’s attempt to end local franchising, since such arrangements have been stifling cable competition for years. Now, a…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/09/2008

Public Knowledge just dug up some dirt on Comcast. Comcast has been fighting charges of violating net neutrality principles at the FCC by claiming…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/09/2008

My colleague Ryan Radia has a great post at the Technology Liberation Front about the Google-Viacom suit. Ryan points out that the discovery…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/09/2008

I reported earlier on the FCC’s plan to nationalize the failures of all municipal wireless projects by auctioning off a big block of spectrum…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/08/2008

Apparently, the FISA bill is much worse than many commentators have made it seem. The bill goes way beyond telecom immunity. As Ars…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/08/2008

Tech news source ArsTechnica reported last night that more than 200 civil rights groups are panicking about the transition to digital TV and asking…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/07/2008

Google decided to give into demands from California legislators and post a link to its privacy center on its homepage. Jim Harper…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/03/2008

Today, a bunch of telcos got together to form a consortium to create standards for developing mobile-friendly websites – an important task as more…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/03/2008

The ACLU and EFF are filing a Freedom of Information Act request to find out how the government decides when to use…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/03/2008

On the heels of a report showing the odd, politically-driven fluctuations in indecency complaints submitted to the FCC, two advocacy groups are claiming…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/02/2008

What is it with delayed mergers and agreements today? I just reported about the DoJ beginning its investigation of Google-Yahoo. Now, Ars reports…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/02/2008

The Justice Department has begun an investigation of the Google-Yahoo advertising deal. What exactly the DoJ will do to the deal is as yet…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/02/2008

The Copyright Office just released a report asking Congress to end the practice of forcing broadcast TV stations to give their signals to cable…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/01/2008

Valentine v. Chrestensen was a landmark 1942 Supreme Court ruling declaring that the Constitution does not protect commercial speech. This precedent has allowed Congress…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/01/2008

The TSA is finally allowing laptop designers to make cases that can pass through TSA security with the laptop inside. With an older…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/01/2008

CNET reports that you may soon be able to draw a doodle to gain access to ATMs, computers, or websites. The two computer scientists…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/01/2008

The French company LVMH has won a court case against eBay holding the internet company liable for some users’ sales of fake Louis Vuitton…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/01/2008

Google has launched a partnership with Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy. MacFarlane will produce high-budget short (less than two minutes) episodes of…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/30/2008

This article from CNET News does a (perhaps unintentionally) brilliant job of describing the Bootleggers and Baptists forces behind California’s new law banning…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/30/2008

Ars reports that the RIAA is lobbying the government to sneak rules mandating web filtering into the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The proposed…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/30/2008

Wired reports that: In their eagerness to visit justice on a 49-year-old woman involved in the Megan Meier MySpace suicide tragedy, federal prosecutors in…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/30/2008

Broadband Reports has news: The FCC made changes to cable franchise rules last year which prevent “local franchising authorities from unreasonably refusing to award…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/27/2008

Today, Bill Gates left Microsoft. As Cord Blomquist pointed out, Bill Gates has created more value for the world in his time at…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/27/2008

Ars reports that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is giving out grants as part of its new Games for Health program. Performing modern electronic…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/27/2008

Last week, I reported on public safety agencies holding up lots of spectrum, preventing Sprint Nextel from getting access to the company’s new electromagnetic…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/27/2008

The San Jose Mercury News reports that ICANN, the internet’s main governing body, relaxed its rules to allow hundreds or thousands more domain extensions…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/26/2008

Chrysler annouced that it will begin offering an optional wireless internet service in its vehicles for about $500, plus $29 a month. The network…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/26/2008

The Washington Post reports on a voluntary agreement between Microsoft, Google, WebMD, the Consumers’ Union, and others regarding electronic health record privacy. Fear of…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/25/2008

For a while now, the UK has had a fairly extensive network of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras recording its citizens’ movements in the…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/25/2008

Major ISP Charter Communications is indefinitely suspending its use of NebuAd, a tool that would use customers’ browsing habits to send them better-targeted…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/25/2008

A DC law firm just published a report claiming that the US is falling behind other countries in broadband deployment. The report, like…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/25/2008

Ars reports that New York is very close to passing a video game law that would require video game companies to do what they’re…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/24/2008

Ars reports on a Congressional hearing called to address the failings of the Universal Service Fund, which is supposed to provide telephone access to…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/24/2008

Ars reports that the FCC has today banned Verizon’s practice of trying to woo back customers who are in the process of switching their…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/24/2008

The New York Times has an interesting – and somewhat amusing – article today about a novel defense being tried in an online…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/24/2008

Responding to calls from special interest groups, the FCC will begin an investigation of product placements in TV shows, the Wall Street Journal…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/23/2008

CNET reports that a new generation of advertising companies are set to create “social ads,” targeted to those who have the greatest influence over…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/23/2008

CNET reports that “a group including Equifax, Google, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and PayPal, plus nine leaders in the technology community announced on Monday the…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/23/2008

Ars reports that the FCC has started a public comment cycle on Chairman Martin’s plan to turn 25 MHz of the prized 2.1GHz band…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/23/2008

CEI has just put out a media release mourning the death of the great comedian George Carlin. As Cord Blomquist’s statement says: Like Bruce…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/23/2008

The MPAA has sent two network printers take-down notices for supposedly sharing copyrighted movie files. This came about because “researchers at the University of Washington…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/23/2008

The Google-Yahoo ad deal has come under a lot of scrutiny recently. As I reported earlier, in the wake of Microsoft’s failure to acquire…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/23/2008

We reported earlier on the New York Attorney General’s successful attempt to coerce ISPs into censoring their content. Later that day,…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/20/2008

Teenagers in the UK are using Google Earth to find backyard swimming pools, then using Facebook to organize flashmobs at said pools. The…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/20/2008

“He’s reliable. He’s considerate. He’s like your exact opposite.” “So he’s Bizarro Jerry.” “Bizarro Jerry?” “Yeah, like Bizarro Superman, Superman’s exact…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/20/2008

Verizon announced a new, zippy broadband plan for all markets through its FiOS fiber optic service. Customers will be able to download at 50mbps…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/20/2008

Ars predicts that a new war over net neutrality has begun in Canada. The ISP Bell Canada was discovered to have reduced the speed…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/20/2008

The FCC just granted Sprint Nextel permission to stay in the 800MHz band the company had been using to provide service to 16 million…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/19/2008

CNET reveals that AT&T will be paying Apple $325 to $425 (depending on where the phone was purchased) per iPhone sold – much more…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/19/2008

YouTube has just launched a new area, called the Screening Room, for independent shorts. According to Ars, the Screening Room “will feature…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/19/2008

Today, Ars takes a look at the recent political battle over “white spaces” – those gaps in the electromagnetic spectrum between television channels. Drew…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/18/2008

Ars reports that Sweden just passed a bill that will allow “Sweden’s National Defense Radio Establishment to monitor citizens’ phone calls, text messages, e-mails,…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/18/2008

CNET News reports that AT&T and Verizon are – shockingly – calling for the FCC to fine Comcast for its alleged violations of net…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/18/2008

California has sent cease-and-desist letters to companies that provide direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing. California is worried that the results of the test aren’t very…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/18/2008

An upstart WiMax company, Worldmax, is threatening to displace established telelcom companies by building Europe’s first mobile WiMax network. With impressive speeds and incredible…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/18/2008

A group of locals, imbued with civil pride, have agreed to take over Philadelphia’s failing municipal wireless internet access. Earthlink was initially going…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/18/2008

Back in 2005, the FCC gave providers of voice-over-internet service a mandate to, within a very short time frame, link all of their customers…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/18/2008

Ars has a good piece today on the FCC’s lack of clarity about its own minority broadcasting rules. Apparently, to avoid mandating discrimination based…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/18/2008

If you haven’t yet heard of Zipcar, you soon will. Zipcar is a revolutionary service billed as “car-sharing,” but perhaps better described as…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/17/2008

Crave is reporting that Delta and Continental are testing programs that allow passengers to check in using their mobile web devices, then display those…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/17/2008

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly today ruled that the White House’s Office of Administration does not have to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests for…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/17/2008

Sonia Arrison has an article at TechNewsWorld on the recent FTC investigation and New York state prosecution of Intel for supposed antitrust violations. In…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/17/2008

Disclaimer: I come from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Part of growing up in Albuquerque is developing a grudge against our small, inauthentic, touristy, hippie art collector-filled…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/16/2008

Louisiana is close to approving a bill that would allow for statewide video franchising, but the bill would not affect some important localities, because…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/16/2008

Back in March, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case challenging the FCC’s policy of punishing television broadcasters for fleeting expletives. Reason offers…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/16/2008

According to CNET, Google is creating tools to allow internet users to monitor their ISPs’ network management techniques. Though Google hopes their tools will…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/16/2008

According to ArsTechnica, “students in Australia may soon be forced to have their photos, interests, and aspirations profiled in a massive database meant to…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/16/2008

ArsTechnica reports that “last year saw a tripling in the number of bloggers arrested around the world compared to 2006, according to…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/16/2008

On Friday, I said that the XM-Sirius merger deal had “no end in sight.” But now, the Wall Street Journal reports, The staff…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/13/2008

Ars reports that video game sales are way up – and that GTA IV took the top spot. Look for Jack Thompson…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/13/2008

The Wall Street Journal reports that after the breakdown of Microsoft’s attempts to acquire Yahoo, the search company has turned to Google for an…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/12/2008

The FCC held a hearing on early termination fees for cell phones, cable, ISPs, and pretty much everything else other than leases on cars and…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/12/2008

Google stated today that it would back a nationwide privacy law. This comes days after the company unfairly came under pressure for supposedly…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/12/2008

Ars reports that the Transportation and Security Administration has implemented a new policy regarding IDs. Previously, and unbeknown to many, TSA did not…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/11/2008

France has just joined the ranks of countries like China, Sweden, and Great Britain in blocking its citizens from accessing some content on the…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/11/2008

Next week in Seoul, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will meet to discuss Internet security. The Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/11/2008

On Monday, Steve Jobs announced that – among other things – Apple will begin selling a new model of the iPhone on July 11,…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/10/2008

I posted earlier about a panel I went to yesterday at the ACLU membership conference. In that post, I contended that the…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/10/2008

I’ve spent the past couple of days at the ACLU’s membership conference. The conference provides ACLU members, such as myself, a chance to get…