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
Time’s up for the equal time rule
Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines “anachronism” as a person or thing that is chronologically out of place, “especially: one from a former age that is…

Blog
Otherwise Objectionable episode 6: ‘The Rest of the World’
The sixth episode of Otherwise Objectionable, the narrative-driven podcast that tells the true story of Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, focuses on…

Blog
How valuable will anonymous comments be to the Ferguson FTC?
Comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for its “Inquiry on Tech Censorship” are due next month on May 21, 2025, and the public has…
Search Posts
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TECHNOLOGY Video game makers sue California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over age restrictions on games deemed…
News Release
New Study Provides Outline for Telecom Reform
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Washington, D.C., October 18, 2005—The rules that govern the telecommunications industry in the United States have…
Study
Communications without Commissions
Full Document Available in PDF U.S. communications is at an important inflection point.
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
1. TELECOM Congress prepares to address major reforms to telecommunications policy. CEI Expert Available for Comment: Technology Counsel…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. GLOBAL WARMING Researchers study the summer of 2005 for evidence that global warming is melting…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. GLOBAL WARMING Global warming is being blamed for new data that says 2005 will be the hottest…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. WETLANDS The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear two cases on federal wetlands regulation involving questions…
Letters
Letter to Congress Regarding Digital TV Transition and Cable Multicasting
The undersigned organizations would like to express their strong opposition to proposals toextend “must carry” rules for cable operators to include the multiple streams of…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HEALTH & SAFETY Burger King’s operations in Britain decide to opt out of a scheme…
Op-Eds
The World Wide Web (of Bureaucrats)?
Kofi Annan, Coming to a Computer Near You! The Internet’s long run as a global cyberzone of freedom—where governments take a “hands off” approach—is in…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. INTERNET San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announces a plan to build a city-wide wireless network,…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY The U.S. House of Representatives approved the first major reform in 30 years to the…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LEGAL & CONSTITUTIONAL The Associated Press profiles Colorado State Treasurer Mark Hillman and…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT Legislation aimed at reforming the Endangered Species Act could be voted on in the…
Op-Eds
Lord of War Fires a Dud
News Release
Statement on House Telecom Reform Proposal
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Washington, D.C., September 23, 2005—The latest draft telecommunications bill from the House Energy & Commerce Committee…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HURRICANES Oil and gas facilities in the Gulf Coast are threatened by the approach of…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TRANSPORTATION The twin bankruptcy filings this week of Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines raise…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HURRICANE KATRINA New Orleans slowly begins to show signs of recovery.
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HURRICANE KATRINA Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert suggests that New Orleans should not be rebuilt.
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HURRICANE KATRINA Sen. Trent Lott calls on the federal and Mississippi state government to cut the…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. NATURAL DISASTER Congress moves to provide $10.5 billion in aid to victims on Hurricane…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENERGY The Bush administration moves to avert gas shortages in the wake of Hurricane…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
1. ENERGY The aftermath of hurricane Katrina raises oil and gas prices. CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Global Warming…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HEALTH & SAFETY Tempers run high in California at a public meeting over whether to…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. E-COMMERCE Real estate company Remax announces the creation of an online database of homes for sale…
Op-Eds
Straight Scoop on E-waste
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LEGAL & CONSTITUTIONAL The Wall Street Journal editorializes in favor of CEI’s lawsuit challenging the government-protected…
Op-Eds
Competition and the Telecom Marketplace
Holman Jenkins addresses one of the many sticking points for broadband deployment — cities and localities. Indeed, in today's communications landscape dominated by…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENERGY CNN contrasts the current high gas prices in the U.S. with other nations…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LEGAL & CONSTITUTIONAL Democrats and Republicans alike eye the nomination of Judge John Roberts…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HEALTH & SAFETY The EPA proposes new regulations governing storage of radioactive waste at the proposed…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENEGRY Crude oil prices hit a new record high. CEI Expert Available to…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. NATURAL RESOURCES A summer wildfire in Washington state expands to 32,000 acres. CEI Expert Available…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HEALTH & SAFETY A new study raises concerns about the health effects on children of pesticides…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
1. BUDGET The highway bill currently before Congress is igniting the wrath of fiscal conservatives for being loaded with spending for questionable…
News Release
Media Conference Call on CEI Legal Challenge to Tobacco Settlement
Washington, D.C., August 3, 2005—On Thursday, August 4, the Competitive Enterprise Institute will hold a conference call to discuss its constitutional challenge to…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
1. CONSTITUTIONAL & LEGAL CEI launches a lawsuit challenging the government-sponsored tobacco cartel created by the 1998 multi-state tobacco settlement. CEI…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. INTERNATIONAL President Bush gives John Bolton a recess appointment to serve as U.S. ambassador to the…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENERGY The Washington Post cites CEI on the pork-barrel spending in the recent energy…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TELECOM Congress prepares to consider a sweeping reform of telecommunications law. CEI Expert Available to…
Op-Eds
Reform FCC—Limit It!
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />U.S. communications policy is at an important inflection point. Cable, telephone and wireless companies aim to…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TRADE The U.S. House of Representatives approves the Central American Free Trade Agreement. CEI Expert…
News Release
A New Hope for Free Markets in Telecom
Contact: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 Washington, D.C., July 27, 2005—Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) this morning announced wide-ranging legislation that would modernize U.S. telecommunications law…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TELECOM Senator John Ensign (R-NV) introduces major new legislation aimed at overhauling telecommunications law. CEI…
Op-Eds
Slicing Telecom the Right Way: Making a Real Market is the Best Cure for Monopoly
Mergers involving SBC and Verizon and a recent Supreme Court decision exempting cable-modem companies from open-access regulation have reignited fears of market domination…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TRADE Washington Post columnist Sebastian Mallaby makes the case for passage of the Central American Free…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HEALTH & SAFETY A new report by the Centers for Disease Control finds dramatically lower levels…
Study
The Nationalization of Basic Science
Full Document Available in PDF The National Institutes of Health (NIH)…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. HEALTH & SAFETY Critics of industry-funded science point to alleged conflict-of-interest violations by NIH researchers. Many of…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
1. ENERGY Investors Business Daily quotes Marlo Lewis, Jr. on the folly of wind power mandates. CEI Expert Available…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
1. REGULATION Washington Post columnist Cindy Skrzycki cites CEI’s most recent regulatory study, Ten Thousand Commandments. CEI Expert Available to Comment:…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CIVIL LIBERTIES The House and Senate Judiciary Committees debate whether or not to reauthorize…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT The G8 nations propose a new aid package for Africa. CEI Expert Available…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
1. TECHNOLOGY In the wake of the US Supreme Court decision that P2P firm Grokster could be held liable for aiding digital piracy,…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
1. GLOBAL WARMING President Bush defends the U.S. position on global warming before the leaders of the G8 nations.
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LEGAL & CONSTITUTIONAL Property rights activists organize and a Montana Congressman introduces legislation to counter the Supreme…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TECHNOLOGY The recording industry launches another round of lawsuits against users of peer-to-peer file…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENERGY The Senate passes major new energy legislation. From CEI: Director of Global Warming &…
Products
Markets, not Mandates, Can Best Protect Copyrights
Full Document Available in PDF With the Supreme Court…
Products
A Toast to the Supremes
Full Document Available in PDF Cheers to the Supreme Court for its…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LEGAL & CONSTITUTIONAL A ruling from the Supreme Court is expected today on the Grokster copyright…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TRANSPORTATION Communities in states such as Michigan, Florida, Texas and…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENERGY Senators face a showdown on whether to include Sen. Bingaman’s global warming and renewable fuel…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENVIRONMENT The White House is backing a bill that would allow for offshore fish farms in…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CIVIL LIBERTIES The House of Representatives votes to limit some of the powers granted to the…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CIVIL LIBERTIES A coalition of conservatives and liberals unite to oppose the renewal of…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENERGY The Senate is debating whether to add limits on greenhouse gas emissions to…
Study
The Revolution Spins toward More Regulation
Full document available in pdf format. …
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ANTITRUST Microsoft submits its final proposal for complying with the latest order by the…
Study
Cybersecurity Finger-Pointing
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CYBERSECURITY Advice is pouring in for the Department of Homeland Security’s as yet unnamed new…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. SPAM E-MAIL Spam “zombies”—computers that are hijacked to send out a spammer’s unwanted email messages—get…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TECHNOLOGY A small group of U.S. House members is proposing new federal rules for disposal…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CIVIL LIBERTIES The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence begins debate over whether to renew…
Op-Eds
The Problem with the Voice over IP 911 Mandate
“Today the FCC adopted a rule requiring VoIP providers to provide emergency 911 calling services and they will have only 120…
Op-Eds
Helping Hollywood Help Itself
The agenda for last week’s Digital Media Hollywood Summit reads like a self-help guide for the content industry. Sessions on the economics of media convergence…
Op-Eds
One Bundle, Many Antitrust Laws: The Dilemma for Digital Products
Alongstanding question in the software debate is whether operating systems and components such as browsers and media players are really separate products bundled as one or…
Products
Mandated Recycling of Electronics: Creating a Mountain out of a Landfill
This article is based on the report, Mandating Recycling of Electronics: A Lose-Lose-Lose Proposition , published by CEI, February 2005. Haste maketh waste in the…
Op-Eds
Protecting Digital Property Without New Legislation
Contrast digital property with real property or other more tangible goods. In the case of the latter, there is no continuing relationship between seller and…
Products
A Case of Wine for the Supreme Court
Full Document Available in PDF On December 7, the United…
Study
Expanding the Market’s Role in Advancing Intellectual Property
Full Document Available in PDF The debate over…
News Release
A Solution to the Grokster Copyright Debate?
Contact for Interviews: <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns…
News Release
Reviving Real Regulatory Reform
Full Document Available in PDF Washington, D.C., March 24, 2005—Congress and the President, now more than…
Study
The Price is Right—Or Better Be!
Full Document Available in PDF On the popular television game show “The…
News Release
Verizon & MCI : A Good Deal for Consumers
Contact for Interviews: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 …
News Release
$1.5 billion Bush Tax on Air Travel Fails Cost-Benefit Test
Contact for Interviews: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> …
News Release
CEI Scholars Respond to Bush Budget
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> OVERVIEW Analysis from CEI Vice President for Policy Clyde…
News Release
Study: “E-Waste” is Manageable
Contact for Interviews: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 Washington, D.C., February 3, 2005—With rapid technological improvements in computers and electronics turning millions of products…
News Release
The Problem with Municipal Wireless Networks
Contact: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 <?xml:namespace prefix = st1…
News Release
Free Market Reaction to the State of the Union
Contact: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 Washington, D.C., February 2, 2005—President Bush’s State of the Union address tonight will expound his vision of an “Ownership Society,” in…
Study
The Viability of Municipal Wi-Fi Networks
Full Document Available in PDF Ownership of broadband networks by municipalities,…
Op-Eds
Different Technology, Similar Service
In the absence of competition, regulations serve to protect consumers against monopoly market power. This is, in theory, the reason why the telecommunications…
News Release
SBC Buyout of AT&T Helps Consumers
Contact for Interviews: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Washington,…
Products
Cybersecurity: Markets or Mandates?
Full Document Available in PDF Private cybersecurity initiatives will gradually move us…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: November 2004
Full Document Available in PDF In this issue: “Freeing the Biotech Revolution” by Henry…
News Release
EU Rules Against Innovation in Microsoft Case
Contacts: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 Clyde <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =…
Op-Eds
FCC Is Ignoring Impact of Wireless, Other Rivals for Telephone Service
In the absence of competition, regulations serve to protect consumers against monopoly market power. This is, in theory, the reason why the telecommunications local exchange…
News Release
FCC Drops the Ball on Phone Competition – Again
Contact for Interviews: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 …
News Release
FCC to Reconsider Telephone Competition
Contact for Interviews: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> <?xml:namespace prefix…
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