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
Reason
The Scandalous Science Behind Nuclear Regulation
Nuclear power could be a game-changer for energy affordability, grid reliability, and carbon reduction. However, it’s been stifled for decades based on one deeply flawed…
Blog
The CHIPS and Science Act: A potential regulatory issue
Industrial policy is back with a bang. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed vulnerabilities in global supply chains, prompting intense debates in Congress about government’s role in…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Technology and politics with Corbin Barthold
In this week’s episode we cover bringing your parents to a job interview, the case against a universal basic income, and why…
Search Posts
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
Blog
Video: The Open Internet and Lessons from the Ma Bell Era
Earlier this week, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart summed up the debate over net neutrality by stating, “On one side [are] those who want…
News Release
The Open Internet and Lessons from the Ma Bell Era
Washington, D.C., August 19, 2010 — Earlier this week, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart summed up the debate over net neutrality by stating, “On one…
Blog
Privacy Isn’t Dead, It’s Evolving
Recent revelations about Microsoft’s internal debate over Internet Explorer’s handling of tracking cookies, as chronicled by The Wall Street Journal earlier this month, have…
Heartland
Nothing New About Privacy Fears
“Did we pronounce privacy dead this week?” asked a recent CNET headline, capturing the frenzy that now surrounds the Internet and privacy. Both the House…
Heartland
FCC takes another step towards regulating the internet
Blog
Obama Justice Department Uses Americans with Disabilities Act to Harm the Disabled, Risk Lives, and Undermine Safety
“Amazon.com . . . tried to sell a talking Kindle reader, but” the Justice Department “said it couldn’t because the button to make the…
Game Pro
Is Net Neutrality Good for Gaming?
Newsletter
Kagan Confirmed, Ford Motor’s Finances and Critiquing Obama’s Economic Policy
The U.S. Senate confirms Elena Kagan to be the next member of the Supreme Court. President Obama announced a $250 million government loan to Ford…
Game Pro
Before Net Neutrality Eats the World
The Federal Communications Commission has called off closed-door talks with tech lobbyists, talks meant to iron out a government driven compromise on “net neutrality.”…
VOA News
UAE BlackBerry Ban is Latest Clash Over Information Control
Blog
Give & Take: Fifth Amendment Complicates Net Neutrality
Opponents of net neutrality, including the Competitive Enterprise Institute, have pointed to numerous grounds upon which the detrimental scheme could be challenged. These…
News Release
House Privacy Bill Endangers Privacy Competition, E-Commerce
Contacts: Ryan Radia, 202-331-2281 Richard Morrison, 202-331-2273 House Privacy Bill Endangers Privacy Competition, E-Commerce Government…
Newsletter
National Security, Federal Red Tape and Private Government in Florida
The Washington Post reports that 854,000 people have top-secret security clearances. The Federal Register for 2010 now exceeds 40,000 pages. Just outside of Florida’s Walt…
Seattle Times
U.S. Tech Firms’ China Presence Furthers Internet Freedom
On July 9, China renewed Google's license to operate in that country, leading critics to condemn the firm for acceding to China's oppressive policies. But…
Comment
CEI Comments to the FCC in the matter of Framework For Broadband Internet Service
Full Document Available in PDF Reclassifying the transmission component of…
Newsletter
Financial Regulation, the Gulf Oil Spill, and Privacy on Facebook
Congress passes the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill. The New York Times chronicles the economic fallout from the BP oil spill. Pundits argue that Facebook is…
Blog
Responding to Media Matters
This ad hominem attack deserves a rebuttal. The Daily Caller was kind enough to run mine this morning. I hope you will take a few…
Blog
Cell Phones Don’t Cause Cancer
Over at the Daily Caller, I debunk the fear that long-term cell phone use can cause brain tumors.
Newsletter
A Beer Stimulus, Comcast Merger Questions and Urban Beekeeping
A proposed “Beer Stimulus Bill” would reduce the federal excise tax that small brewers must pay. Yesterday lawmakers conducted a field hearing questioning “Who Benefits?”…
Ecomerce Times
Opposition Pipes Up as Comcast/NBC Deal Goes Back to the Exam Table
News Release
Let Comcast-NBC/Universal Merge
Tomorrow the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet will conduct a field hearing questioning “Who Benefits?” from the proposed…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: May – June 2010
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles from the May-June 2010 issue: Collective…
Blog
California poker players: 1 – Free market opponents: 0
As I wrote yesterday, California was on the verge of passing a bill that would have allowed residents to play poker online at one…
Blog
For Whom the Dell Tolls
Less than fifteen years ago, Dell computers were the hot desktop brand. In a rapidly growing market, Dell developed a unique business model which…
Blog
Supreme Court Dooms Chicago Gun Ban; Obama Judicial Nominees Oppose Gun Rights; Religious Clubs Lose First Amendment Case; Removal of High-Ranking Bureaucrats Made Easier
The Supreme Court doomed Chicago’s handgun ban Monday by ruling 5-to-4 that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments…
Ecomerce Times
Wayne Crews on Cybersecurity and the Presidential “Kill Switch”
Competitive Enterprise Institute Director of Technology Studies Wayne Crews discusses the need for a decentralized and competitive approach of cybersecurity.
News Release
Lieberman-Collins-Carper Bill Threatens Nation’s Cybersecurity
Washington, D.C., June 24, 2010 – This afternoon, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee begins markup of the Lieberman-Collins-Carper cybersecurity bill, which contains controversial provisions…
PC World
Senate Panel Approves Controversial Cybersecurity Bill
PC World reports on the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act and discuss issues with the bill with Wayne Crews. One critic said Thursday…
Cable Fax
FCC Releases Title II Broadband NOI for Comment
News Release
FCC’s Destructive Inquiry Demands Congressional Action
Reactions by Competitive Enterprise Institute telecom policy analysts Ryan Radia and Wayne Crews on the Federal Communications Commission's Notice of Inquiry on broadband regulatory classification.
Blog
Choosing individual liberty is no gamble.
On June 1st the Oregonian published an opinion piece by the editorial staff, titled “Legalization would be a gamble, too” The basis for the…
Blog
Cell Phone Cancer Scare Refuses to Die
Some people are scared that cell phones cause brain tumors. There are enough of these bedwetters that San Francisco just passed a new law requiring…
News Release
Lieberman-Collins Bill Threatens Cybersecurity, Internet Freedom
Contacts: Ryan Radia, 202-331-2281 Lieberman-Collins Bill Threatens Cybersecurity, Internet Freedom Statement by Wayne Crews Vice President for Policy…
Newsletter
Internet Gambling, Carbon Regulations and FDA’s Energy Drink Crackdown
Restrictions on Internet gambling go into effect this week. The Senate will soon vote on Lisa Murkowski’s resolution to stop the EPA from regulating carbon…
Orange County Register
Short-Circuiting the Internet
Newsletter
Energy Legislation, Facebook Privacy and Wine Regulations
Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) unveil their long-delayed energy bill. Executives at Facebook hold a high-level meeting to…
Blog
Risky alternatives for online gamblers post-UIGEA
On June 1st, it seems inevitable that banks will have to be in compliance with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA); the vague and…
Newsletter
Cap and Trade, FCC’s “Future of Media” Project and Another Fannie Mae Bailout
Sen. Lindsey Graham withdraws his support for climate legislation co-sponsored by Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman. The Federal Communications Commission is launching a “Future…
Comment
CEI Comments to the FCC on the “Future of Media” Inquiry
Full Document Available in PDF FCC’s “Future of Media” Campaign vs. Separation of Speech and State The Duty to Expand Communications Liberty…
News Release
The First Amendment Doesn’t Need a Bailout
Washington, D.C., May 10, 2010—In recently-submitted regulatory comments, the Competitive Enterprise Institute urged the Federal Communications Commission to take a stand against government interference…
News Release
FCC Broadband Reclassification: An Agency Out of Control
Reactions by Competitive Enterprise Institute telecom policy analysts Wayne Crews and Ryan Radia on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski’s statement on broadband policy. Washington,…
Wired
FCC Offers Regulation Lite for Broadband Providers, Pleasing Few
Wired cites Wayne Crews on the FCC's net neutrality. Competitive Enterprise Institute blasted the idea as an “unwarranted, unjustifiable power grab by a…
News Release
Misguided Privacy Legislation Threatens Digital Commerce, Innovation
Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL) today unveiled draft legislation aimed at improving online privacy that would impose new rules on…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: March – April 2010
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles from the March-April…
Forbes
FTC Should Green-Light Google-AdMob Deal
Google competes in many markets, but its most pressing threat comes not from a rival but from antitrust authorities. The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly…
Blog
Online Gambling Could Have Brought $150 billion and 32,000 jobs to the US
In the past five years since the de facto ban on Internet gambling (congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006) the US…
Newsletter
Stevens’ Legal Legacy, Goldman Sachs and Internet Gambling
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is retiring. The SEC is charging Goldman Sachs with securities fraud. Opponents of internet gambling are circulating a memo…
Blog
Online gambling opponents play the Abramoff card
Gambling as an activity for fun has been around since the dawn of human civilzation. When man first discovered fire, there were probably cavemen…
MSNBC
The Constitutional Issues of Cloud Computing
Newsletter
Comcast v. FCC, Chemical Scares and Eminent Domain
The U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision in Comcast v. FCC limits the FCC’s power to enforce net neutrality. Time magazine publishes a list of “household…
News Release
Appeals Court Delivers Legal Spanking to FCC
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:"";…
Blog
Republicans Will Lose Many Seats in Congress Due to Right-Wing Paranoia About the Census
Republicans will lose many seats in Congress due to right-wing paranoia about the census and refusal to fill out Census forms, gloats the liberal…
Blog
Gene Patents Ruled Invalid
In a pretty remarkable move, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York yesterday held that genes can not be patented…
Op-Eds
Digital Due Process: Protecting Americans’ Privacy by Restoring Constitutional Limits to Government in ECPA
CEI Joins Coalition to Urge Federal Privacy Reforms…
CNET
Tech Coalition Pushes Rewrite of Online Privacy Law
Blog
National ID Plan Insults Americans
President Obama recently gave his thumbs-up to an immigration compromise plan formulated by Chucky “Why Am I So Annoying” Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC)…
PC World
Reaction to FCC’s Broadband Plan: Generally Positive
News Release
Broadband Plan Would Vastly Expand Government Power over the Internet
Statements by Competitive Enterprise Institute telecom policy analysts Wayne Crews and Ryan Radia on the FCC’s National Broadband Plan.
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Beam me up, Scotty?
Today’s achievement doesn’t quite put us on the final frontier, but the successful transmission of atoms via teleportation by scientists at the University of Maryland…
Newsletter
Sugar, Health Care, and the Internet
Florida’s purchase of a large section of U.S. Sugar property will benefit US Sugar far more than it benefits Florida taxpayers. As Rep. Paul Ryan…
Washington Examiner
FCC summit pushes broadband for all, spending unused stimulus
The Washington Examiner discusses the FCC's Digital Inclusion Summit with Wayne Crews and Ryan Radia. The Competitive Enterprise Institute's Wayne Crews and Ryan…
Blog
The cut-and-paste Splinternet
The way Ben Kunz in a new Business Week artcle puts it, “Each device contains its own widening universe of services and applications, many…
Washington Examiner
The EU Searches for a Monopolist, Finds Google
If policy makers set the terms in a primitive year like 2010, nobody will have to respond to Google.
Blog
CEI Weekly: Marlo Lewis’ Music Video Against Climate Change
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features Marlo Lewis' music video, "How I was not Al Gored…
Tech News World
Microsoft vs. the Zombie Hordes
Blog
In-Flight Wi-Fi: Security Threat?
An article in this month's Infotech & Telecom News on a TSA proposal to ban in-flight wi-fi quotes me at length. Here's what I had…
Ecomerce Times
Europe Sets Antitrust Sights on Google Search
Heartland
TSA Rules Threaten In-Flight Technology Use
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