The Open Market Blog

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/15/2008

Today, a network administrator for the city of San Francisco was arrested for “taking control of the city’s computer network and locking administrators out,”…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/15/2008

The talk surrounding global warming has mostly been about regulation: carbon taxes, cap-and-trade schemes, or - worse - outright mandates. But technology can offer solutions…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/15/2008

Pretty much everyone has gotten into the Google-Yahoo thicket. First, it was the companies themselves, by intentionally leaving time for regulators to kill the…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/15/2008

There's an interesting discussion on the Technology Liberation Front, a popular blog for those interested in liberating technology from the hands of government, about…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/15/2008

Viacom has just agreed to let Google anonymize the data it will be handing over to Viacom as part of the copyright infringement lawsuit…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/14/2008

On Friday, the FCC rejected complaints from public interest groups whining that some Chicago and Milwaukee stations did not give a lot of coverage…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/14/2008

The NFL Network (NFLN) has been quite aggressive in its demands for cable providers to include it in their lineups. Back in 2006, Adam Thierer…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/14/2008

According to tech news site ArsTechnica, Companies looking for a competitive edge over their rivals have in recent years been making use of a…

• By: Alex Harris
• 07/14/2008

I reported earlier on the failings of the Universal Service Fund. Now, the convoluted transfer scheme has a new critic: the GAO. The…

• 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…