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
Blog
Hayek on Facebook’s community notes
Meta is going to stop using professional fact-checkers for Facebook posts. My colleague Jessica Melugin is relieved that Meta is finally publicly acknowledging…
News Release
Meta’s new content moderation is a step in the right direction: CEI analysis
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced major changes to its content moderation system today. The company says it aims to allow as…
Op-Eds
Targeting Digital Platforms
President Biden’s antitrust regulators have filed a pair of lawsuits targeting tech platforms, claiming they abuse their position as intermediaries between consumers and third parties.
Search Posts
Blog
Federally Sanctioned Propaganda Machine
Apple's 1984 "Big Brother" ad An article over at Ad Age brings up an angle on the whole…
Blog
Censorship and Bailouts for the Rich
George Will has an interesting column on how the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” that many liberal lawmakers want to reimpose in order to shut down…
Newsletter
Obama’s Public Works, FCC Diversity Mandates and the Auto Bailout
President-elect Obama promises the largest spending program on public works programs since the 1950s. Obama tech advisor Henry Rivera endorses a proposal to expand minority…
Blog
Claim of consumers’ fear of auto bankruptcy a canard in bailout debate
Eli, in answer to the blog post you phrased as a question, the argument from the individual you heard, echoed by other Big 3…
Blog
Abarackadabra! A 21st Century “New Steal”
JOBS, ROADS, BRIDGES, SCHOOLS, BROADBAND, ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS, ENERGY…blares the Drudge Report. It’s President-elect Obama’s weekend plan—not to produce, but to transfer yet…
Blog
Wealth-Creating Alternatives to Pelosi’s Destructive Infrastructure “Stimulus”
Well, who can possibly be surprised by the revelation that “The federal government's economic stimulus package will include investment in broadband Internet infrastructure and…
Blog
This week’s Least Objectionable Bureaucrat
My occasional “Least Objectionable Legislator Award” (no prize) takes a detour today and goes to a bureaucrat instead. So the LOL Award (pun intended, I…
Newsletter
Obama’s Attorney General, More Stimulus Spending and Defending Deregulation
Barack Obama’s choice for attorney general comes under scrutiny for his record on civil liberties. Democrats in Congress plan to seek additional billions in taxpayer…
Blog
Stimulus as if Capitalism Mattered
Those dispensing the "Bailout to Nowhere" proceeds seemingly answer to no one (here's one article behaving as if this were unexpected and surprising). Today…
Blog
DeLorean disproves domsayers in debate over auto bankruptcies
In the debate about bailing out the Big 3 automakers, it is said that we just can’t allow a bankruptcy. Despite the fact that Chapter…
Blog
America the Ungovernable
With respect to the ongoing series of bailouts, my colleague Iain Murray pointed out that some sensible British commentators note that one of the ways…
Newsletter
Obama’s Treasury Pick, Waxman’s Chairmanship and the Big Tobacco Deal
President-Elect Obama prepares to nominate New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) wins control of the powerful…
Blog
Hollywood Rep. to Wield Power Over Copyright Law
My colleague Cord asked me about proposing a tech agenda for Congress given the ascendancy today of Henry Waxman to Energy and Commerce Chairmanship;…
Blog
More on Waxman and Tech
As Cord mentioned earlier, Henry Waxman has been named incoming Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which the Subcommittee on Telecommunications…
Newsletter
Yahoo’s Fortunes, Chevron’s Strange Ads and the Battle over Bottled Water
Shares of web pioneer Yahoo Inc. rise upon departure of CEO Jerry Yang. Chevron launches a series of ads aimed at reducing energy consumption. A…
News Release
CEI Blasts New Banking, Internet Gambling Regulations
Washington, D.C., November 13, 2008—In its final weeks, the Bush administration is trying to rush through ill-considered regulations aimed at preventing Internet gambling. Two Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
An Agenda for the Monday a.m. Obama and Bush Meeting
Since the President and President-elect start spending quality Oval Office time together today, and since the incoming admistration's advisors can't settle on either pushing…
Blog
We’re Proof Blogging Isn’t Dead
There are all sorts of pieces about the future of "New Media" floating around these days from Andrew Sullivan's "Why I Blog" in the…
Newsletter
Online Ads, Regulatory Reform and Free Trade
Google and Yahoo abandon a proposed advertising partnership amid antitrust concerns. President-Elect Obama begins transition work with the current White House staff. Rep. Rahm Emanuel…
Blog
Obama’s win through the web…a myth?
[caption id="attachment_5754" align="alignleft" width="270" caption=" "][/caption] O'Reilly writer Andy Oram makes the case that the assertion…
Blog
“Card Check” May Trigger Beatings, Intimidation
Clayton Cramer, who grew up in a union household, explains why the “card-check” bill favored by liberal lawmakers and Obama may lead to physical…
Newsletter
Michael Crichton, Press Censorship and a Technology Czar
Bestselling author Michael Crichton dies at age 66. Members of the Bureaucrash Activist Network join forces with free speech activists to protest press censorship in…
Newsletter
E-voting, the Fairness Doctrine and Economic Unrest in Ecuador
Problems with electronic voting machines are reported in several states. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) argues for the re-imposition of the “Fairness Doctrine” for TV and…
Blog
No “Technology Czar,” Please
Like everybody else in town, we're pondering the implications of the transition to the Obama Administration for various policy areas here at CEI. On the…
Citation
the prospect of a national “Technology Czar”
Blog
FreeRoots
Some of the brightest minds in the online conservative movement — John Hawkins, Patrick Ruffini and Mark Tapscott — are discussing what…
Blog
My apologies to the Swiss (hold firm against OECD meddling)
Last week, the German government said that Switzerland should be placed on the international blacklist…
Newsletter
Internet Censorship, Reforming Fannie and Freddie and Free Trade with Colombia
American tech companies announce new guidelines for doing business in nations threatened by censorship. Lawmakers urge embattled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to…
Newsletter
Credit Card Settlements, Wireless Networks and What’s ‘Killing the Earth’
Visa and MasterCard reach a $2.75 billion settlement with Discover Card over an antitrust complaint first brought in 1998. Cox Communications plans to roll out…
Newsletter
Greenhouse Gases, Broadband Speeds and the Future of Transit
California officials ignore the high costs of implementing the state’s greenhouse gas reduction plan. Comcast implements upgrades for broadband customers that will double download speeds…
All Things D
Broadband Speed Upgrades
Tech Dirt
Broadband Price War
DSL Reports
Broadband Competition
Tech World News
Broadband Competition
Blog
I’m Sorry, Your Candidate Is in Another Castle
The presidential campaign of a certain U.S. senator has just expanded the bounds of the political advertising universe with in-game ads inside popular EA…
Blog
FCC Might Actually Roll Back an Outdated Regulation!
If you wanted to communicate over long distances in real-time 25 years ago, you had little choice but to rely on your local phone company…
Blog
Stopping “Badvertising” at Yahoogle.
As an indicator of how perverse wealth-draining antitrust policy has become, have a look at the “concessions” being squeezed out of Google and Yahoo…
Newsletter
Lehman Brothers Hearing, Consequences of the Bailout and Online Ad Controversy
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee holds a hearing to investigate the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The Wall Street bailout fails to slow economic…
Newsletter
Internet Radio, Mark-to-Market Accounting and Private Mortgage Insurance
The Senate approves a bill to regulate royalties for web-based radio services. The Security and Exchanges Commission relaxes accounting rules that may have worsened current…
Newsletter
Mortgage Madness, Media Diversity and World Car Free Day
The bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is attacked as unfair to responsible consumers. The Federal Communication Commission considers reinstating the “Fairness…
Newsletter
Economic Projections, Comcast Sues the FCC and Cholesterol Drugs
A new report from the Federal Reserve projects continued slow growth and a weak business climate. Comcast sues the Federal Communications Commission over…
Op-Eds
Minot Line
Over the past decade, the Internet has given new life to one of the oldest forms of media: the urban legend. Sometimes an…
Products
CEI Planet: September – October 2008
View the new Montly Planet by downloading the PDF of the issue. Below you’ll find previews of the articles in this issue:…
Newsletter
Oil Speculators, Immunity for Phone Companies and Global Warming Reports
Members of Congress blame oil “speculators” for driving up the cost of oil with their investments. Legal wrangling continues over Congress’ grant of immunity to…
Ecomerce Times
FCC Comcast Net Neutrality Ruling
Blog
DMCA takedown notices should take fair use into consideration
A U.S. district judge got it right yesterday when he refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Universal, ruling that copyright holders should take…
Newsletter
Hurricane Damage, Wind Power and Comcast in the Crosshairs
Florida residents watch the shifting course of Tropical Storm Fay. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveils a plan to build a series of windmills…
Blog
Your Cable Company Also Rents You a Cable Box? Sue ‘Em!
Time Warner Cable is getting slapped with an anti-tying lawsuit. The plaintiff claims that by renting him a cable box, the company engaged…
Blog
Google Dominates Search, But Forever?
"If these trends continue" is a dangerous way to begin a sentence in the new economy Ars reports that Google has expanded…
Blog
Downloading: The Green Way to Buy
I just posted on several states’ new taxes on internet downloads. Over at TLF, tech liberator Braden Cox just published an interesting…
Newsletter
Home Schooling, Online Privacy and Oil Drilling
A California appeals court issues a major new ruling on home schooling. Members of Congress investigate online privacy and the use of “behavioral advertising.” New…
Blog
War in Georgia Goes Cyber
A follow-up to Hans Bader’s informative post on the Russia-Georgia war: Ars reports that the war is going on in cyberspace as well.
Op-Eds
In Defense of Early Termination Fees
If early termination fees reduce competition in the cell phone marketplace, then why is there so much of it?…
Newsletter
Losses at Fannie Mae, Satellite TV Merger and Toxic Chemicals
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae reports a loss of $2.3 billion. Cable TV provider Dish Network proposes a merger with DirecTV. Former New York Times environmental…
Blog
DNS Internet Flaw: How Much Worse It Could Have Been
By now, most tech-savvy readers have probably heard about the vulernability in the structure of the internet, specifically involving DNS lookups. Apparently, the flaw…
Newsletter
Video Gamers Win in Court, Free Speech on Campus and the Impact of Biofuels
The state of California is ordered to pay video game makers $280,000 in legal fees over an unconstitutional law that sought to restrict game sales.
Ecomerce Times
U.S. tech companies in China
Op-Eds
Online marketing myopia
We are in the middle of an advertising revolution, driven by technology. Congress is up in arms over "behavioral advertising" online by…
Tech Dirt
Selectable Output Control
Blog
EFF/CDT Brief in MySpace Case: Terms of Service not Crimes
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology, Public Citizen, and 14 law professors have jointly submitted an amicus brief in the…
Newsletter
Obama on Offshore Drilling, Tobacco Lawyer Goes to Prison and Video Game Violence
Sen. Barack Obama changes his position on offshore oil drilling. One of the nation’s richest attorneys begins a prison sentence for bribery. The government of…
Blog
Facebook and Scrabulous: Safe Harbor in a Web 2.0 World
CNET has a great piece on Facebook's role in the Scrabulous battle. For those unfamiliar with the case, Facebook is a social…
Tech Dirt
the FCC and net neutrality
Blog
States Begin to Regulate Nano
So far, nanotech has been left blessingly unregulated by the feds. Nanotech has been responsible for the great advances in computer technology.
Newsletter
FCC Takes on Comcast, GM Crops and the Housing Bailout
The Federal Communications Commission puts Comcast in the hot seat over its network management practices. Security becomes the number one cost for scientists developing genetically…
News Release
FCC Stages Broadband Power Grab
Washington, D.C., July 28, 2008—The Federal Communications Commission is preparing this week to expand its control over how telecom firms manage…
Newsletter
Fairness Doctrine, Wind Power and Flood Insurance
Lawmakers debate the return of the “Fairness Doctrine” for news broadcasts. Famed Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens launches a multimedia campaign to replace oil use…
Blog
Italy Criminally Charges Google
The Times reports: Google is to face criminal charges in Italy over a video which appeared on one of its sites showing a…
Products
CEI Planet: June – July 2008
View the new Montly Planet by downloading the PDF of the issue. Below you’ll find previews of the articles in this issue:…
Newsletter
Online Gambling, Fannie Mae Bailout and WTO
Congressman Barney Frank sponsors legislation to legalize online gambling. President Bush endorses the taxpayer bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. India raises…
Blog
XM-Sirius to Finally Be Approved
It’s about time. The XM-Sirius merger will go through, as the FCC finally gets the third commissioner on board. But now, in addition…
Op-Eds
Corporate Welfare for XM/Sirius Competitors?
Wayne Crews and Ryan Young argue that terrestrial radio's opposition shows that a merger between Sirus and XM will benefit consumers.
Blog
DNS Redirect Hubbub
When you try looking up a website that doesn’t actually exist, you generally receive an error message from your browser. But if you use the…
Blog
Take-Down Notices for Fair Use
My colleague Sam Glaser and I have been discussing this article at Ars about take-down notices for fair use. Apparently, Universal’s practice has been…
Newsletter
Banking Crisis, Globalization and Internet Poker
Federal officials charge that a letter from Sen. Chuck Schumer sparked the run on deposits that triggered the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history this…
Newsletter
Bank Failure, Offshore Oil Drilling and Online Gambling
The multi-billion dollar failure of IndyMac bank in California fuels calls for greater government regulation of financial institutions. President Bush lifts the White House ban…
Blog
Downloading not Hurting DVD Sales
Ars reports that DVD and Blu-Ray sales are up during the first half of 2008, compared to the first half of 2007. Rentals are…
Study
Can Someone Deal Internet Poker a Good Hand?
Recent attempts to reform the legal environment for online gaming fall short.
Op-Eds
The Risks of Gambling Regulation
When trade emissaries from the European Union arrive in Washington later this month to talk to officials in Congress, the Justice Department, and…
Blog
Cuomo Seeks More Newsgroup Bans
Hans reported earlier on New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s “voluntary” agreement with some ISPs to ban newsgroups in a misguided effort to stamp…
Newsletter
The Cost of Government, Cell Phone Fees and the Housing Bailout
American for Tax Reform prepares to observe “Cost of Government Day.” Verizon settles a lawsuit over its “early termination” fees for mobile phone customers. The…
Newsletter
Internet Privacy, Greenhouse Gases and Offshore Drilling
Senators hear testimony on the privacy implications of online advertising. Developing nations reject the plan for cutting greenhouse gases created by leaders of the “Group…
Comment
Testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee on the Privacy Implications of Online Advertising
Privacy dilemmas are inevitable on the frontiers of an evolving information era, but CEI maintains that competitive approaches to online privacy and security will be…
Blog
Mobile Internet Becoming a Growing Force
According to a new report from Nielsen Mobile, the US leads the world in mobile internet consumption, with 15.6% of cell phone subscribers…
Tech Dirt
Federal Privacy Laws
Tech Dirt
Federal Privacy Laws
Tech Dirt
Federal Privacy Laws
Blog
Wireless Kills Birds, Birds Kill Wireless?
Ars editorializes today about bird deaths caused by wireless communication towers. Apparently, bird groups such as the National Audobon Society, Defenders of Wildlife,…
Newsletter
Free Trade, Satellite Radio and Lead Paint in Court
A free trade agreement with Colombia continues to be stalled in Congress. Democratic senators continue to hold up approval of the merger of XM and…
Op-Eds
ACLU is a principled defender of civil liberties
ACLU is a principled defender of civil liberties Re: “ACLU failing in defense of civil liberties at a vital time,”…
Blog
Clever Method for Defeating Chinese Filters
The Wall Street Journal reports on a clever method Chinese bloggers have been using to get around automatic keyword-based censorship programs that China uses…
Tech Dirt
Cell Phone Termination Fees
Tech Dirt
Reluctance in the senate to back housing bill finger printing provision
Blog
Google Tries Contextual Ads
The New York Times reports today that Google is now displaying ads on its search results page that are relevant to not just the…
Newsletter
Gun Rights, the Fairness Doctrine and Internet Gambling
The Supreme Court strikes down the Washington, D.C. ban on handgun ownership. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces support for the “Fairness Doctrine” in broadcast regulation.
Citation
a Proposed Federal Fingerprint Registry
Newsletter
Fingerprints, Obscenity and Foreign Investment
The Liberty Coalition releases an open letter opposing a new federal fingerprint registry. Free speech advocates challenge local obscenity standards in Florida as hypocritical. Investments…
Newsletter
Credit Cards, Tax Increases and George Carlin
The Federal Trade Commission sues a credit card issuer that lowered credit limits after profiling its customers’ purchases. Political observers predict significant tax increases in…
News Release
Housing Bill Provision Harms Privacy, Says Diverse Coalition
Leaders of liberal, conservative, and libertarian policy groups – from the American Conservative Union to the American Civil Liberties Union – have banded together…
Newsletter
Fingerprints, Telecom Lawsuits and Al Gore’s Carbon Footprint
The Senate considers a bill creating a new federal fingerprint registry. The House of Representatives votes to shield telecom companies from lawsuits arising from the…
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