Whether it is lifting net neutrality regulations, allowing AI to reach its full potential to benefit mankind, educating policy makers about content moderation, clearing legacy regulations at the Federal Communications Commission, advocating for greater spectrum efficiency, or defending business practices that benefit consumers but are disliked by antitrust enforcers, CEI punches above its weight. Coalition activity, relationships with tech and telecom journalists, media appearances, policy events, Capitol Hill outreach, op-eds, and in-depth studies combine to make CEI influential in the tech and telecom policy area.
Tech and Telecom Issue Areas
Featured Posts
News Release
Market-based Reforms Needed to Correct Failures of Universal Service Subsidies, Congress Urged to Act
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) highlights the pervasive failures of the Universal Service Fund (USF) subsidies and calls on Congress…
Blog
Good things happen when spectrum is allocated to the marketplace
There has been recent legislative activity on spectrum allocation, so it is a good time to remind ourselves why moving as much spectrum as…
Blog
For the sake of user privacy, keep Google search remedies narrow and germane
The movement in the Biden and Trump administrations of antitrust officials away from consumer welfare and towards a federal judiciary of active regulation is on…
Search Posts
News Release
Leading Free Market Groups Urge Congress to Update U.S. Privacy Laws
Washington, D.C., April 6, 2011 — This morning, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hear key administration officials testify about the statute that governs…
Letters
Coalition Letter Urging Congress to Update Privacy Laws
Full Document Available in PDF As public interest groups dedicated to limited, Constitutional…
Blog
Senators Seek to Censor Mobile App Stores, Disregarding Public Safety and the Constitution
In the latest example of big government run amok, several politicians think they ought to be in charge of which applications you should be able…
News Release
CEI Urges Congress to Address Orphan Works Problem
Today, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected a proposed class action settlement agreement between Google, the Authors Guild,…
Blog
Are Text Messages an Antitrust Issue?
Text messages cost 20 cents to send, even though they use a fraction of a penny of bandwidth. What gives? Antitrust authorities want to know.
Op-Eds
Cybersecurity Theater vs. The Real Thing
Computer attacks cost mid-to large size businesses $3.8 million annually on average , and generate massive global damage. Some homeland security and cybersecurity specialists even warn…
News Release
Congress Should Reject Privacy-Killing Do Not Track Mandate
Washington, D.C., March 16, 2011 — Today, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on “The State of Online Consumer Privacy.” Below…
Blog
CEI Podcast for March 10, 2011: Keeping Private Data Private
Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia talks about rampant how to prevent data privacy violations in the Internet age.
Ecomerce Times
House Subcommittee Vote Unlikely to Impede Net Neutrality Rules
News Release
Free Market Coalition Warns Against E-Verify Mandate
Washington, D.C., March 10, 2011 — The House Judiciary Committee is currently considering a law that would require all private employers in the United…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Mosquito-Zapping Lasers
It’s hard to deny that lasers are cool, but a lasers that can blast mosquitoes out of the sky, protecting us from the malaria spreading…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Mobile Phone Credit Card Processing
It’s a hot summer day, you pass by a lemonade stand and you think "An ice-cold lemonade would really hit the spot," but you have…
Ecomerce Times
French Firm Slings Another Stone at Google in EC Antitrust Spat
Ecomerce Times
Tough Terms May Land Apple’s Subscription Service in Hot Water
Ecomerce Times
Cyber Insecurity: Flip That Internet “Kill Switch” Plan
Unless there’s a major critical infrastructure failure, cybersecurity’s never going to be a pop culture concern like Cee-Lo Green or Christina at the Super Bowl.
News Release
House Hearing on FCC’s Net Neutrality Proposal Should Investigate “Agency Neutrality”
Washington, D.C., February 16, 2011—The following is a statement from CEI’s Director of Technology Studies, Wayne Crews: All five Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioners…
Blog
iPhone 4 is All About Verizon, Not Apple
Design loyalists know it all begins and ends with Apple, the little tech company whose mission statement is “to change the world.” When it comes…
News Release
Free Market Think Tank Urges House to Reject Patriot Act Extension
Washington, D.C., February 8, 2011 – Today, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on an extension of three provisions of the Patriot…
Blog
Tweeting Around Egypt’s Web Blackout: Meet John Scott-Railton
Recently, the Egyptian government blocked Egyptians’ access to the Internet. However, it couldn’t block the Internet itself. Consequently, John Scott-Railton figured out a way to…
Ecomerce Times
‘Kill switch’ = more federal power
Blog
Congress Considering “Kill Switch” for Capitalism
Introduced last summer, a bill affording President Obama executive power over private Internet companies in the event of a “national cyberemergency” is returning this year,…
Ecomerce Times
Mis-State Of The Union
Politicians rarely think voluntary markets are so grand that they couldn’t benefit from a good ol’ dose of compulsion. It’s a shame, because that…
Blog
How to Cop Proof Your Cell Phone
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVCROjpgCB0 285 234]…
Blog
CEI Podcast for January 20, 2011: The Future of Space Policy
CEI Adjunct Scholar and space policy expert Rand Simberg explains why NASA stagnated after its early success in bringing man to the moon.
Ecomerce Times
Comcast OK With Feds’ Conditions for NBC Merger
Reason
Being Smart With Your Smartphone, Police Search Edition
Study
Protect Free Speech by Rejecting Content Regulation
Liberate to Stimulate Index In recent years, the First Amendment’s protections have been increasingly extended to commercial speech, such as product advertisements…
Study
Counteract Politicization of Federal Science Policy
Liberate to Stimulate Index The federal politicization of science in many areas is harming science itself. Ethics rules and advisory panel guidelines…
Study
Reject the Precautionary Principle, a Threat to Technological Progress
Liberate to Stimulate Index Increasingly, governments and environmental activists are demanding that producers of both new and old technologies prove that their…
Study
Avoid Hindering the Internet’s Evolution through Net Neutrality Regulation
Liberate to Stimulate Index In 2010, Congress failed to enact legislation authorizing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enforce network neutrality rules.
Slashdot
Encrypt Your Smartphone – Or Else
Blog
Smartphone Searches, Encryption, and the Constitution
The smartphone is arguably one of the most empowering and revolutionary technologies of the modern era. By putting the processing power of a personal…
ARS Technica
Why You Should Always Encrypt Your Smartphone
Last week, California's Supreme Court reached a controversial 5-2 decision in People v. Diaz (PDF), holding that police officers may lawfully search mobile phones found on…
Blog
Benefits of Cutting White Pages Distribution
After asking why so many states get involved in TelCo activity (requiring that phone books get distributed in hard copy, even over phone companies’ vigorous…
Blog
Why Do States Still Require Phone Books to Be Delivered?
Did you know that some states require companies to deliver phone books to state residents? Never mind the fact that most people don’t use phone…
ARS Technica
The FDA Needs Strong Medicine
Christmas came a couple of weeks late to the business sectors regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The greatest threat to the success of…
The WHIR
What’s hampering innovation?
The WHIR discusses regulation approval processes with Wayne Crews. Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute took the first position. He feels that…
The WHIR
Sack Vilsack!
Something is very wrong at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The secretary, Tom Vilsack, is letting hypothetical claims by organic farmers–who produce less than 1%…
The WHIR
What the New Congress Can Do For the Technology Sector
This week the Consumer Electronics Show will eat Las Vegas whole, and it’s an awesome thing to behold. Here’s hoping that the affiliated…
PC World
What’s Next for the FCC and Net Neutrality?
Blog
FCC Net Neutrality: Some Networks are More Neutral than Others
Today’s decision [by FCC bureaucrats] will help preserve the free and open nature of the Internet [as defined by the government] while encouraging innovation [as…
Blog
Will Net Neutrality Save the Internet?
Reason.TV created an excellent video explaining Net Neutrality and arguing against it. I’ve heard too many people irrationally claim that big corporations are going to…
Study
Recognize the Role of Private Enterprise in Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Cybersecurity
Full Document Available in PDF…
Study
Protect Incentives for Pharmaceutical Innovation
Full Document Available in PDF In recent years, Congress has faced mounting public pressure…
Boston.com
FCC passes ‘net neutrality’ Internet regulations
Study
Protect Free Speech by Rejecting Content Regulation
Full Document Available in PDF In recent years, the First Amendment’s…
Study
Avoid Hampering the Internet through Net Neutrality Regulation
Full Document Available in PDF Some observers have speculated that 2009…
Study
Keep Government’s Hands off the Net and E-Commerce
Full Document Available in PDF As a network of networks, the…
Study
Avoid Privacy Regulation that Could Worsen Personal Security
Full Document Available in PDF There are two great ironies in…
Study
Liberalize Telecommunications
Full Document Available in PDF Appeals to the “public interest” and claims of airwave scarcity have long been…
News Release
FCC Commissioners Should Reject Net Neutrality Rules
Washington, D.C., December 20, 2010 – Tomorrow morning, the FCC will hold a vote on network neutrality rules, mere days before Christmas celebrations begin.
Blog
Online Poker is Not Illegal: U.S. Courts
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of New York sentenced convicted felon Anurag Dikshit, the co-founder of PartyGaming.com, to a meager year of probation and indicated his…
Blog
Interchange Price Controls: Gift to Big Merchants, Lump of Coal for Consumers and Community Financial Institutions
On Thursday, the Federal Reserve — at the direction of Congress in the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial “reform” bill — will give…
Blog
TSA’s Bad Policies Aren’t Going Away
Public outrage at the TSA's new policies has died down. That's a real shame, because people are still having experiences like this one.
Boston.com
Keep Privacy Policies Private
Like the lame duck itself, the online privacy turkey waddles on this December. It’s headed for January and the next Congress. Along with proposed legislation,…
Blog
Does Wikileaks Have a First Amendment Case Against Joe Lieberman?
Amazon made headlines last week when it abruptly cut off service to Wikileaks, allegedly on the grounds that the site had violated Amazon's…
Blog
Wikileaks’ Assange to Australian Times: “I’m Not Sorry”
Julian Assange wrote an op-ed in the Australian Times today essentially saying, “I’m not sorry”: I grew up in a Queensland country…
Blog
Homeland Security Violating Due Process and Free Speech In Internet Power Grab?
Law professor David Post notes that the Department of Homeland Security is seizing entire domain names, not to protect national security, but to enforce…
Local Tech Wire
Opinion: ‘Net neutrality’ will hurt consumers, limit investment
IT Pro Portal
EU Google antitrust probe will hurt consumers
IT Pro Portal reports on the Google antitrust lawsuit and references comments by Wayne Crews and Ryan Radia on the case. However, competition…
Blog
European Commission Should Leave Internet Search Alone
Today, the European Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation into Google to probe allegations that the firm rigged its search engine to discriminate against…
Ecomerce Times
Google Denies Rankings Hanky-Panky as EU Pursues Probe
News Release
FCC Presses Forward With Destructive Net Neutrality Rules
Washington, D.C., December 1, 2010—This morning, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the Commission will vote on net neutrality rules during…
Washington Post
Feds pledge some action on privacy, less on net neutrality
The Washington Post cite CEI's Wayne Crews and Ryan Radia's comments on net neutrality. Other observers like the FCC's new deal even less.
Huffington Post
Yes, Mr. FCC Chairman, There Is a Santa Claus
The Huffington Post cites Wayne Crews's comments on the FCC's net neutrality rule. The would-be chairmen of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are…
News Release
EU Antitrust Investigation Into Google Will Hurt Consumers
Washington, D.C., November 30, 2010 – Today, the European Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation into Google to probe allegations that the firm rigged…
Blog
An Intrusive, Ineffective, Unionized TSA?
Much has been written about the backlash against the TSA’s intrusive new screening methods. Law professor Jeff Rosen has argued that they violate…
Blog
TSA Roundup
The Thanksgiving travel rush is officially underway.
Blog
Six Ways Congress Can Fix COICA Copyright Bill
Over at the Technology Liberation Front, I discuss the “Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act” (COICA), which the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously…
Tech Liberation
Five Ways Congress Can Fix COICA Copyright Bill
On November 18, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the “Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act” (COICA). The bill would enable the U.S. Attorney General…
News Release
Congress Should Amend COICA, Think Tank Argues
Washington, D.C., November 19, 2010 — Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to approve the “Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act” (COICA).
Blog
TSA’s John Pistole Offers to Probe Senators: Shouldn’t He Buy Them Dinner First?
TSA chief John Pistole offered to give enhanced pat-downs to senators at a hearing today on TSA's new screening policies.
Blog
CEI Podcast — November 15, 2010: Free Speech and Video Games
Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia gives his take on a Supreme Court case concerning California’s ban of violent video game sales to minors.
Associated Content
National Deficit Commission: Eliminate Commercial Space Subsidies
Associated Content
Big Government’s Final Frontier
There’s something about space policy that makes conservatives forget their principles. Just one mention of NASA, and conservatives are quite happy to check their small-government…
Blog
Video Games are More than Just Good for Kids
They will be a primary way that we learn, teach, produce and advance in the future. Jane McGonigal of Institute for the Future has…
Blog
Should Geoengineering be Banned?
Since one day the sun will expand into a red-giant star, humans in the distant multi-millennial future will either have to leave the Earth, geoengineer…
Blog
On Google: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It!
Scores.org has a post suggesting that Google is a monopoly because its “tentacles tap into sizable market shares” referring to the search engine, map services,…
Blog
Butcher’s Bill for Texting While Driving
In my LA Times piece “Texters, You’d Be Better off Driving Drunk,” Oct. 3, I stated “There are no reliable studies regarding deaths associated…
Mac World
Mobile Phone Bill Shock: FCC, Carriers Face Off
Blog
A Republican Sweep Might Not Stop Online Gambling
Many analysts and pollsters are predicting a Republican sweep of the coming midterm elections in the House. While Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) seems untouchable,…
Blog
Video Killed the Radio Star: 2010 Telephony Edition
One hundred and twenty-six years after Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, AT&T, America’s largest provider of fixed telephony (and third largest non-oil company in…
CIO
Mobile phone bill shock: FCC, carriers face off
PC World
Mobile Phone Bill Shock: FCC, Carriers Face Off
Blog
Bill Shock Shouldn’t Be A Federal Issue
The FCC proposed new rules today aimed at combating wireless “bill shock,” a term that describes mobile subscribers getting hit with overage charges they…
Modern Healthcare
Enterprise group to FCC: No new Net neutrality rules
Blog
Our Driverless Future?
Google has been making headlines after the company revealed over the weekend that its driverless cars have logged nearly 140,000 miles on public roads…
Blog
Is the Internet’s Future in Jeopardy?
Last week, I had the pleasure of discussing net neutrality with James Boyle, a Duke Law Professor and the co-founder of the…
Blog
Texting on the Stygian Ferry
“Border collie jill surveying the view from atop the sand dune.” Those were the last words of Malibu plastic surgeon Frank Ryan, best known for…
Newsletter
CEI Weekly: Congress Should Liberate to Stimulate
CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features John Berlau's debate with Heather Boushey from the Center for…
Blog
CEI Weekly: Congress Should Liberate to Stimulate
CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features John Berlau's debate with Heather Boushey from the Center for…
News Release
Free Market Groups Urge Congress to Update U.S. Privacy Laws
Washington, D.C., September 23, 2010 — If you store sensitive files on your personal computer which law enforcement authorities wish to examine, they generally…
Comment
Joint-Statement Submitted to House and Senate Committees on Reforming the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
The House and Senate Committees on the Judiciary held separate hearings on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) on September 22, 2010, and September 23,…
Modern Healthcare
An Industry, not a Bureaucracy
Online security problems are real, but the increasing tendency to treat cybersecurity as a government-spearheaded function asks for big trouble. Case in point is the…
Adage
Look to the Marketplace for Stronger Privacy Protection
A series of recent high-profile privacy gaffes involving internet firms such as Google, Microsoft and Facebook has spurred a public outcry for stronger privacy…
Information Week
Google Becomes Focus Of Federal Antitrust Hearing
Information Week reports on Wayne Crews's statements at a Congressional hearing on competition in the changing digital marketplace. Another speaker, Wayne Crews, vice…
Blog
New CEI Podcast: Creating High-Tech Jobs
Ryan Radia, CEI's Associate Director of Technology Studies, talks about obstacles and opportunities for job creation in the high-tech sector.
Blog
Clearing the Way for High-Tech Jobs
Over at RealClearMarkets.c0m, my colleague Ryan Radia offer some ideas for how to create more high-tech jobs. Our main points:…
PC World
The Pros and Cons of Craigslist’s Shutdown of the Adult Services Section
Heartland
Broadcast Spectrum Bill Raises Property Rights Concerns
Staff & Scholars
Jessica Melugin
Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation
- Antitrust
- Innovation
- Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government