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
The compound interest of innovation: Wi-Fi and the power of unlicensed spectrum
Investors understand the power of compound interest. Over time, small gains accumulate into exponential growth. Innovation often works the same way. One breakthrough creates the…
Blog
The Little Red Hen goes digital: No data centers, no internet
The politics of data centers increasingly resemble the fable of The Little Red Hen. Everyone wants the bread — AI, cloud computing, streaming, financial…
Blog
From Ma Bell to FaceTime: Why the next Telecom Act must embrace innovation over regulation
This year is the 30th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Telecom Act), a landmark law that Congress is considering updating. Lawmakers should…
Search Posts
Blog
Distracted by Paranoia, Obama Administration to Regulate Map Apps?
A story in The New York Times is making the rounds about an Obama administration proposal to clarify the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) authority to…
Blog
Ridesharing Wars: Uber, Regulators, and the “California Compromise”
Yesterday, as many in the D.C. metro area are aware, Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles sent cease-and-desist letters to Uber (PDF) and Lyft…
Forbes
There’s A Way To Pay Off America’s Budget Deficits That Is Easy, And Wholly Painless
Whatever your views on the role of government, one thing is clear: There will be no way to pay for it if the economy doesn’t…
Blog
House Intel Committee Chair Ignores Report Calling NSA Surveillance Illegal
At a recent event titled “A Statesman Forum on Cybersecurity Policy and Diplomacy” at George Washington University, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.)…
The Oklahoman
Think Tank Fellow: Taxing At Place Of Origin Is The Best Method
Starved for cash, cities in Oklahoma and across the nation are looking to new sources of revenue. Their latest target? The Internet. Municipal officials are…
Blog
How Policy Makers Should Approach Google’s Driverless Shuttles
Yesterday, Chris Urmson, director of Google’s Self-Driving Car Project, wrote a post for the company blog describing Google’s newest prototype: fully automated vehicles that…
The Oklahoman
Distracted Drivers Or Driverless Cars?
The treatment of self-driving vehicles by policymakers represents one of the major barriers to their emergence, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Only New…
Blog
Senate Leaders Kill Patent Reform, Once again Thwarting Democracy to Protect Special Interests
Hundreds of moderate and conservative bills have passed the House of Representatives, often overwhelmingly, only to die in the Senate without even being voted…
National Review
Quick Hits
Hans Bader writes about how Harry Reid killed a bipartisan patent-reform bill, and simultaneously undermined one of President Obama’s favorite talking points.
Blog
No, Gov. Perry, a Ban on Internet Gambling Won’t Protect the Internet or Individual Freedom
In an attempt to save face, Texas Governor Rick Perry is trying to justify his support for a federal online gambling ban by claiming that it’s the…
Blog
CEI Podcast for May 20, 2014: Phones on a Plane
CEI Fellow Marc Scribner supports the FCC's attempt to lift a ban on in-flight cell phone use.
Blog
Consumers Will Win in Combined AT&T-DirecTV
AT&T agreed Sunday to purchase DirecTV for $67 billion in cash, stock, and acquired debt. If federal regulators approve the deal, the combined firm…
Forbes
Questions For Advocates Of Net Neutrality Regulation
Flawed premises notwithstanding, the Federal Communications Commission’s self interested campaign to inflict net neutrality rules on the private communications infrastructure continues with a new rulemaking…
Blog
The Premises of Net Neutrality
In the electric power industry, if you run an extension cord across the street to serve another, you go to jail. The local utility has…
Blog
No, the FCC Did Not Allow “Fast Lanes” on the Internet, Yet
This week, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) held an Open Meeting to propose new rules regarding regulation of Internet service providers (ISPs), such as Verizon and…
The Real News
TRNN Debate: Should The Internet Be Regulated Like A Utility?
ANTON WORONCZUK, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Anton Woronczuk in Baltimore. The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, has just voted three…
Mapping the Internet
Parallel Internets, Another Internet Treaty Or Both? The Next Pieces Of The Internet Governance Jigsaw Puzzle – Part 2
For a long time before Brazil, Angela Merkel and others had awoken to the possibility of networks separate though connected to the currently US-dominated…
Blog
CEI Podcast for May 14, 2014: Federal Ban on Online Gambling?
CEI Fellow Michelle Minton discusses why a federal ban on online gambling would be counterproductive.
Blog
Google’s Self-Driving Cars Approach 700,000 Miles of Crash-Free Driving
In a report released last week for CEI, I noted that developers need to be able to demonstrate automated vehicle safety benefits in order…
Blog
FCC’s Internet Fast Lanes Should Outrun Net Neutrality Bias
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will issue proposed rules May 15, rules expected expected to allow premium pricing for Internet fast lanes alongside the lane…
Study
Self-Driving Regulation
Leonardo da Vinci first sketched the design for a self-propelled cart in the late 15th century. In 2010, Google announced its fleet of self-driving cars…
Blog
Taxable Bitcoins 2: We’re Not Gonna Pay it!
Reason magazine’s Brian Doherty recently addressed the IRS’s recent announcement that bitcoin transactions are taxable. As I addressed in my last piece, while the…
Blog
Taxable Bitcoins: Property or Money?
Is Bitcoin currency or property? It depends on which parts of the federal government you ask. Last week the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that bitcoins…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: 3D Printing Cups, Cars, Houses, and Faces
3D printing is a relatively recent technological development that has already begun to revolutionize model-building, structural and other medical procedures, and construction of items from…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Autonomous Vehicles, from Imagination to Reality
[caption id="attachment_55209" align="alignright" width="300"] CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman about to take a spin in a Google self-driving car in May 2012. (Photo by Marc…
Blog
MtGox is Dead, Long Live MtGox!
MtGox, once a pillar of the Bitcoin exchange market, filed for bankruptcy on March 10. In February, the website had ceased withdrawals before ceasing…
Legal Brief
Amicus Brief – American Broadcasting Companies v. Aereo, Inc.
Full document available in PDF CEI and ICLE filed a joint amicus brief in the Aereo case, which the Supreme Court…
Blog
Growing Support for Road User Charges Will Be Highlighted at March Conference
I’ve written about the importance of charging road users for their road use for some time. Moving toward a truly user-pays system will require significant…
Comment
Comments to the Federal Communications Commission in the matter of Expanding Access to Mobile Wireless Services Onboard Aircraft
Full…
Forbes
Art, Free Speech, Hypocrisy, Tightie-Whities, and Teenage Tantrums
Welcome to the culture wars’ latest opera buffa. In recent weeks, Wellesley College has been embroiled in a raging controversy over …. a lifelike statue…
Blog
CEI Podcast for February 12, 2014: Are Cell Phones Coming to an Airplane Near You?
CEI Fellow Marc Scribner opposes a bill that would ban in-flight cell phone usage on airplanes. He believes that decision should be left to airlines,…
Blog
House Committee to Markup Bill Banning In-Flight Cell Phone Calls
Tomorrow morning (Tuesday, February 11), the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will markup the Prohibiting In-Flight Voice Communications on Mobile Wireless Devices Act (H.R.
Forbes
Why Bitcoin Must Die. Long Live Bitcoin 2.0.
One day, there will be a global digital currency in widespread commercial use whose value will not be controlled by central banks. Governments can forestall…
Blog
Waxman’s Last Stand on Net Neutrality
It was announced that Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is proposing new net neutrality legislation. The proposed bill has likely been made…
Blog
USDOT Calls for Connected Vehicle Mandate; Security and Privacy Concerns Remain
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced today it would chart a regulatory path that would require all new automobiles to be equipped with…
Blog
CEI Experts on the State of the Union
ECONOMIC MOBILITY Iain Murray, Vice President for Strategy: “The fact is: Today’s America is divided between those who work…
Blog
Target, Retailers Use Dodd-Frank to Skimp on Data Security
Chutzpah, thy name is the National Retail Federation! In the wake of the recent credit and debit card breach at Target that may have compromised…
Blog
The Loss of Net Neutrality Is Not a Detriment to Consumers
Last week’s announcement that the District Court of Appeals struck down the non-discrimination and no-blocking rules of the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) 2010 Order on…
Blog
Obama Announces NSA Reforms Could Undermine U.S. Leadership in the Global Information Economy
President Obama outlined plans to “reform” the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance programs in a Friday morning speech at the Justice Department. To his…
Blog
CEI Podcast for January 16, 2014: FCC Loses Net Neutrality Court Case
Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia argues that while the case looks like a victory on the surface, it still gives the FCC plenty…
News Release
Net Neutrality Court Ruling Praised by CEI Experts
Washington, DC, Jan. 14, 2013 – Today a federal appeals court struck down so-called "net neutrality" rules forcing Internet service providers to make broadband…
Blog
Congressional Research Service Misinterprets Monetary History
Last month, the Congressional Research Service released a report on Bitcoin analyzing the structure of the network and its implications, if any, on monetary policy. The…
Blog
Is FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for or against Net Neutrality? Yes
In what the Washington Post referred to as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler's strongest endorsement yet of net neutrality, he said: Public policy…
Forbes
The Consumer Electronics Show’s Lessons On The Separation Of State And Technology
While most of the country endured the polar vortex this week, the annual tech vortex known as the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show took over Las…
Blog
An Ode to I, Pencil, Part 2: I, Computer Mouse — Matt Ridley and Leonard Read Sing the Same Tune
In a speech at a 2012 Google Zeitgeist event, British journalist Matt Ridley gave an evocative illustration of the power of connectivity, reminiscent of…
The Hill
Court weighs fate of net neutrality
Opponents of the net neutrality rules argue the FCC is stifling innovation by meddling in the marketplace. The agency “needs to…
Blog
Target Breach — Are Dodd-Frank “Swipe Fee” Price Controls to Blame?
Target wants you to know it is oh-so-sorry for any inconvenience its data SNAFU (as OpenMarket is a family blog, please look up the…
USA Today
GOP fighting cellphone freedom
Should the federal government outlaw rudeness? Some senior Republican lawmakers seem to think so. Since 1991, the Federal Communications Commission has barred cellphone use on…
USA Today
Electronic surveillance capacity of state, local government creates strange bedfellows
There is growing bipartisan support in Congress for the USA Freedom Act, which would limit the bulk, suspicionless surveillance of Americans. While Congress considers the…
USA Today
Experts: DOT probably has legal legs to ban calls
The libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute offered a dissenting voice Thursday, calling it “clearly arbitrary and capricious” for DOT to ban cellphone calls under consumer protection…
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