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
The Daily Wire
Australia’s Novel Social Media Ban For Kids Sparks Debate As Some Platforms Get A Free Pass
The Daily Wire cited CEI’s expert on kids safety online “We haven’t really seen a plan like this be put into action,” said Jessica Melugin,…
Civitas Outlook
In the Long Run, the Meta Case Is Dead
It’s: Meta is not illegally monopolizing the “personal social networking” (PSN) market through its 2012 purchase of Instagram and 2014 purchase of WhatsApp. The Federal…
News Release
Melugin: Preempting state-level AI regulation shouldn’t come at the expense of speech rights and parental responsibility
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing this morning on several bills related to technology,…
Search Posts
Blog
Japan’s War On Copyright Infringment
Japan is one-upping the U.S. when it comes to draconian copyright enforcement. The BBC reports that an amendment to Japan’s copyright law approved…
Blog
Google Fiber Project: A Product Of The Free Market Or Government Interference?
Google will soon launch Google Fiber service to select residents in Kansas City. Fred Campbell, Director of CEI’s Communications Liberty and Innovation Project, lauded…
Op-Eds
Market demand knocks down regulatory barriers in Kansas City fiber deployment
In response to my analysis of Google Fiber, Timothy B. Lee at Ars Technica says the Google Fiber deployment is “hardly an example of the…
Blog
In Rejecting EPIC’s Petition On TSA’s Strip-Search Machines, Court Effectively Orders Rulemaking Timetable
This afternoon, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s (EPIC) petition for writ of mandamus, which called on the court…
Blog
Driverless Cars Legalized In California
Just after 1pm PDT, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 1298, which explicitly legalizes the use and testing of driverless cars in the…
Blog
Copyright Bots Are Here To Stay
A string of mistaken, high-profile takedowns has caused some talk about the services video hosting sites like Ustream and YouTube use to police…
Denver Post
A victory for e-book buyers
From The Denver Post: The settlement orders the publishers to end their contracts with Apple and allow retailers to set their own prices…
Denver Post
Obama, Romney unlikely to share Bush’s space-travel ambitions
From Gus Taylor’s article in The Washington Times: “The real problem is Congress. They don’t really care about actually doing anything in space,”…
Blog
Science And Technology Policy And The Democratic Convention
Now it's the Democrats' turn to gather for their convention in Charlotte and one element of the platform in common with basic Republican philosophy is…
Denver Post
Congress looks at sales taxes for online purchases
From Burton Speakman’s article in Vindy: Jessica Melugin, an adjunct analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, argued it would be burdensome to ask online…
Blog
Regulation Of The Day 227: Returning From The Moon
When Armstrong, Aldrin, and Michael Collins returned to Earth after the Apollo 11 mission, they actually filled out a customs form.
Denver Post
Tech issues infuse RNC and DNC platforms
From Ted Johnson’s article in Variety: Fred Campbell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Communications, Liberty and Innovation Project, said that the significance…
Blog
Solyndra In Space?
Here we go again. It's unfortunate that so many conservatives are opposed to competitive markets in spaceflight, to the point that they are willing to…
Daily Caller
GOP Platform includes Internet Freedom, language indicates influence of Rand Paul and libertarian-Republicans
From Josh Peterson's article in The Daily Caller: The GOP efforts are currently being modeled on the recent stance taken by the Ron…
Human Events
Internet Freedom Enters the Final Draft of the GOP Platform
From John Hayward's post in Human Events: These ideals have gained increasing support from many quarters of the libertarian and conservative movements, and…
Human Events
Facebook And FTC Agree Settlement Over Privacy Row
From Nathan Eddy’s post in TechWeekEurope: The FTC said it took action after Google violated a previous settlement with the…
QC Online
Editorial: Naked truth about TSA
From an editorial in The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus: The fact that TSA is pursuing the case is no surprise given…
Blog
Capitalism In Space
Over at National Review Online today, I have a piece on the current state of play in U.S. human spaceflight. It’s…
Blog
CEI Podcast For August 9, 2012: Getting TSA To Follow The Law
When the TSA installed full-body scanners in airports across the country, they did so illegally. Land-use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner explains how a…
E Week
Google $22.5M Settlement With FTC Over Privacy Criticized by Industry Group
From Robert J. Mullin's article in eWeek: A group promoting competitive innovation on the Internet has criticized the FTC’s “headline-grabbing settlement” for $22.5…
News Release
FTC’s Record Fine Sends Ominous Warning to Internet Innovators
Washington, D.C., August 9, 2012 − Google will pay $22.5 million to settle an FTC complaint claiming the company misled Safari users about its…
Blog
When Violations Of The Law Have No Remedy: The Case Of Warrantless Wiretapping
Yesterday, in Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. v. Obama, a panel for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government did not…
E Week
Womack Seeks to Close Quill Loophole, Force Online Stores to Pay State Sales Tax
From Neil McCabe’s column in Townhall: Christie said taxation of online sales an important issue to all the nation’s governors and endorsed federal…
Blog
Update On TSA’s Lawlessness Over Body Scanners
As I noted previously, the Transportation Security Administration has failed to comply with a court order demanding that they initiate a notice-and-comment rulemaking regarding…
Blog
CEI Podcast For August 2, 2012: Cybersecurity Bill Fails
Today the Senate shot down a controversial cybersecurity bill that Associate Director of Technology Policy Studies Ryan Radia believes would have been a disaster.
McClatchy DC
TSA Flouts the Law on Body Scanners
Also appeared in: The Charlotte Observer, Tulsa World, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Press of Atlantic City, and Juneau Empire. For more than…
Daily Caller
Cyber Bill Shouldn’t Gut Private Contracts
(Written with TechFreedom president Berin Szoka) Days before August recess, Senate Democrats are scrambling to pass legislation creating a…
Daily Caller
State of the Web: Which vision of an ‘open Internet’ would you fight for?
The physical layer of the Internet is owned by a tight cabal of powerful corporations that includes behemoths like AT&T and Verizon Communications. During the…
Study
The Marketplace Fairness Act Would Create a State Sales Tax Cartel and Hurt Consumers
The Marketplace Fairness Act (S. 1832) seeks to capture more tax revenue for states on Internet purchases. Traditional retailers, states, and localities have urged Congress…
News Release
Internet Tax Bill Would Allow Taxation Without Representation
Washington, D.C., July 30, 2012–This Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a hearing on the Marketplace Fairness Act (S.
Blog
Amendment to Cybersecurity Act Would Deter Federal Government Privacy Abuses
[caption id="attachment_58589" align="alignright" width="150"] Lord Acton's beard absolutely knows that power corrupts[/caption] In the ongoing debate over the Senate’s Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (…
Law Fare Blog
Ryan Radia of CEI on the Liability Exemption Provisions of Lieberman-Collins
From Paul Rosenzweig's post on Lawfare: Ryan Radia, who works for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, writes in with a few a couple of…
Law Fare Blog
Why Conservatives Must Heed Congressman Issa’s Call
In yesterday’s Atlantic interview, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa issued a conservative call to action on Internet policy: “The tech world needs us.” He’s right. Companies…
Law Fare Blog
Libertarians make the case: net neutrality is unconstitutional
From Cyrus Farivar’s article in Ars Technica: A group of well-known libertarian organizations has filed an amicus brief (PDF) to the US Court…
News Release
Net Neutrality Unconstitutional, Public Interest Groups Tell Appeals Court
Washington D.C., July 24, 2012 — On July 23, TechFreedom and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, along with the Free State Foundation and…
Comment
Testimony on “The Marketplace Equity Act of 2011”
Full Document Available in PDF The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a non-profit public policy research organization dedicated to advancing individual liberty…
News Release
CEI Urges Congress to Reject Internet Tax Bill
Washington, D.C., July 23, 2012 – Congress should reject legislation to increase taxes collected on Internet and mail order remote sales, argues the Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Revised Cybersecurity Act Makes Meaningful Progress On Privacy
em>By Ryan Radia and Berin Szoka A new version of the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 was introduced last night (PDF), and a vote on…
Blog
CEI Files Amicus Brief In Support Of EPIC’s Petition To Force A TSA Rulemaking On Strip-Search Machines
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed a brief of amici curiae in support of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's (EPIC) petition for writ…
Legal Brief
Brief of Amici Curiae Supporting EPIC’s Petition for Writ of Mandamus (EPIC v. DHS)
In the last half decade, as millions of Americans have undergone AIT screening by the TSA, none have been afforded an opportunity to comment on…
Blog
TSA Roundup
Everyone's favorite sexy-searchers are back in the news, but not for the right reasons.
Law Fare Blog
‘Internet freedom’ becomes hot cause for politicians across political spectrum
From Brandon Sasso’s article in The Hill: On Tuesday, a coalition of more than 100 advocacy groups unveiled their “Declaration of Internet Freedom,”…
Blog
Google, Antitrust Antagonism, Patent Trolling, and Joseph Schumpeter
Google has been in the news lately for all the right reasons, but also some wrong ones. The FTC is investigating its use of patents…
Law Fare Blog
Groups Release Dueling Internet Freedom Declarations
From Grant Gross’ article in CIO: One declaration, backed by Free Press, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology and…
Law Fare Blog
Groups That Fought Anti-Piracy Bills Post Their ‘Declaration of Internet Freedom’
From Jennifer Martinez’ article in The Hill: Libertarian groups TechFreedom and the Competitive Enterprise Institute released their own declaration over the weekend and…
The Wire
This Declaration of Internet Freedom Is Vague
From Rebecca Greenfield's article in The Atlantic: We're not the only ones to find this declaration too simple. As a direct response, TechFreedom…
The Wire
Anti-SOPA Veterans Issue Declaration of Internet Freedom
From Timothy B. Lee’s article on ArsTechnica: But not everyone was enthusiastic about the declaration. Indeed, a coalition of right-of-center organizations promoted…
Forbes
The New York Times’ Impotent Whining About Apple Inc.
They're at it again, and this time it's not about the evils of outsourcing or the un-Western factory conditions in Asia. It's not about workplace…
News Release
Future of Video Forecast: Sunny, With a Chance of Regulation
Washington, D.C., June 26, 2012 — Tomorrow morning, the U.S. House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing…
Blog
Google and Antitrust: Economic Liberty in the Balance
Way back when the DOJ brought an antitrust suit against Microsoft in 1990s, Milton Friedman had this to say to The Wall Street…
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