CEI’s Center for Technology and Innovation strives to keep the regulatory state from encroaching upon frontier industries and ensure that 21st century technologies are not shackled by 20th century regulations. We advance market discipline as superior to regulatory intervention; we legitimize market processes and forestall governmental restrictions on wealth creation. Our overarching goal is to persuade the public and policy makers that innovation tends to make the world safer, healthier, and happier, and that government regulation and intervention tend to do the opposite. Despite spending growth and entitlement paralysis, when we ignore regulation, we ignore the bulk of the government’s ability to interfere with and hamper free enterprise. Therefore, we seek to extend the institutions of liberty, such as property rights and contract, without which free markets cannot function effectively.
Innovation Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: ACCESS Act
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), launched in 1997, was arguably the first social media platform, reaching over 36 million users by 2001. The Federal Trade…
Blog
Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: Ending Platform Monopolies Act
Imagine shopping for a bicycle. You decide on a Trek bike after evaluating the options, user reviews, and specifications. The bicycle is delivered but without…
Washington Examiner
What Elon Musk gets wrong about Apple App Store fees
Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter has some in the throes of ecstasy and others fearing a social media apocalypse. But, whatever happens, it’s good news that the…
Studies
Don’t Confuse the Platform with the Train
Executive Summary Should social media companies be regulated like common carriers? To answer that question, this paper describes the functions and origins of social media…
Central Bank Digital Currencies Threaten Global Stability and Financial Privacy
Executive Summary As digital currencies go mainstream around the world, governments and international financial bodies are seeking to develop ways to regulate them. Some countries…
Screening Out Innovation
Executive Summary This report addresses the appropriate antitrust standards for vertical mergers. It first provides an overview, and then analyzes a specific application to the Federal Trade Commission’s…
Blog
Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: Filter Bubble Transparency Act
In Book VII of Plato’s Republic, Socrates introduces his allegory of the cave. Prisoners are chained in an underground cavern since birth. Their necks are…
Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: Platform Competition and Opportunity Act
Tech startups are thriving. The COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding government response created unique problems for facilitating communication, goods, and services. Fortunately, tech innovation helped…
Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: EARN IT Act
There is no shortage of legislation addressing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act introduced in the 117th Congress, with some legislators seeking to amend…
News
House Votes to Decriminalize Marijuana – an Important First Step
The House on Friday passed legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (or MORE) Act…
Mandating Reciprocal Switching Would Trample Property Rights and Raise Costs for Consumers
The Surface Transportation Board will hold a hearing on March 15 and 16 to consider a proposal to mandate reciprocal switching for freight railroads.
CEI Statement: Biden Executive Order to Target Crypto for Regulation
The White House is set to release an executive order today regulating cryptocurrency. CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau expressed concerns about the order and the…
Op-Eds
National Review
After Elon Musk’s Takeover of Twitter, Will Conservatives Learn to Love Section 230?
Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter has many on the political right hopeful that, once under his control, the site will take down less…
Inside Sources
Point: There’s No Evidence That Masks Work
Joe Biden proclaimed, “Wearing masks is not a political statement, it is a scientific imperative.” He was wrong. There is little evidence supporting generalized use of masks.
The New York Post
Studies Prove that Most Politicians and Experts Handled COVID Terribly
During the 2020 election, multiple public health “experts” claimed President Trump had “blood on his hands” and was responsible for “preventable” loss of life. They…
Staff & Scholars
Gregory Conko
Senior Fellow
- Health and Safety
- Healthcare
- Innovation
Clyde Wayne Crews
Vice President for Policy and Senior Fellow
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Paul Jossey
Adjunct Fellow
- Innovation
Sam Kazman
General Counsel
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance
Kent Lassman
President and CEO
- Capitalism
- Deregulation
- Innovation
Mario Loyola
Senior Fellow
- Energy and Environment
- Tech and Telecom
Jessica Melugin
Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation
- Antitrust
- Innovation
- Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms
Ryan Nabil
Research Fellow
- Innovation
- Tech and Telecom
- Telecommunications
Ryan Radia
Research Fellow and Regulatory Counsel
- Intellectual Property
- Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms
- Privacy and Cybersecurity
Alex Reinauer
Research Fellow
- Innovation
- Tech and Telecom
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government
Joel Zinberg
Senior Fellow
- Health and Safety
- Healthcare
- Medicines and Medical Devices