The Open Market Blog

• 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…