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 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…
Blog
The GUARD Act dis-GUARDs the First Amendment and competition
When looking at Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) GUARD Act (S. 3062 – Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue Act), the puns write themselves.
Search Posts
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…
Blog
Net Neutrality: Two Concepts of Liberty
Two Concepts of Liberty In December of 2010, the FCC passed a network neutrality order mandating, among other things, that ISPs allow content to…
Blog
Losing the Universe with LOST
The Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) has been languishing in the Senate for decades, but led by Massachusetts senator John Kerry, there is growing…
Forbes
Norquist, Conservative Groups Petition FCC in Favor of Latest Verizon Deal
From Josh Peterson’s Daily Caller article: “Demand for wireless broadband is more than doubling annually, but vast swaths of valuable spectrum — the…
Blog
Tapping Space Resources
Over at The Washington Times, Bob Zubrin says that we need space property rights. Gee, I wonder…
Blog
Cut The Budget By Cutting Republican Sacred Space Cows
Over at Forbes, Cato’s Doug Bandow says that the Republicans need to lead by example: Presumptive Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney…
Forbes
Former FCC Official Takes Stance Against FCC’s Possible 4G LTE Technology Mandate
From Josh Peterson’s article in The Daily Caller: Fred Campbell, director of the Communications Liberty and Innovation Project — a new project by…
Comment
CEI’s CLIP Submits Comments Before the FCC on 700 MHz Interoperability
Full Document Available in PDF The Communications Liberty and Innovation Project submits these comments…
Blog
New Space Property Rights Criticism
Over at the Space and Cyberlaw blog, Eric Dawson takes issue with my issue analysis on space…
News Release
Competitive Enterprise Institute Launches Program to Advance Innovation in Telecommunications
Washington, D.C., June 1, 2012 – Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) launched the Communications Liberty and Innovation Project (CLIP), a program of…
News Release
CLIP Takes Bold Stance Against FCC Technology Mandate
WASHINGTON, D.C, June 1, 2012 – Fred Campbell, Director of the Communications Liberty and Innovation Project (CLIP) at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Wall Street Journal
Letter to the Editor: ‘Modest’ Doesn’t Describe the CISPA
Your editorial "Who's Afraid of #CISPA?" (May 21) rightly argues that facilitating voluntary information sharing is a vastly superior approach to bolstering America's cyber defenses…
Blog
If Only All Policemen were Leroy Jethro Gibbs
As a fan of NCIS, I’m quite aware of the government's ability to track the location of individuals through their cell phones. One of the…
Blog
Classic Obfuscation: The New America Foundation’s Search for the “Public Interest”
Milton Friedman once quipped that “Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.” Perhaps he would add the outmoded idea of the “public interest”…
Blog
CEI Podcast for May 24, 2012: Driverless Cars
A prototype driverless car made by Google recently made the rounds in Washington, DC, and Land-use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner got to take…
Tech News World
Apple, Samsung Chiefs Pick Up Their Marbles and Go Home
From Erika Morphy's article in E-Commerce Times: Judges will often order two sides to try mediation before a legal action, Ryan Radia, an…
Blog
A Fit of Sanity on ITAR
Over at Space Politics, Jeff Foust reports that the House has passed a bill allowing the administration to remove satellites from…
Blog
The Future of Automobility Is (Almost) Here: Google’s Self-Driving Car
[caption id="attachment_55209" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman about to take a spin in the Google car. (Photo by Marc Scribner)"][/caption] This morning,…
Forbes
Comcast’s Puny Data Cap Increase
From Timothy B. Lee's op-ed on Forbes: Ryan Radia wants to know what I think of Comcast’s announcement that it’s raising…
Blog
The Constellation Empire Strikes Back
Constellation, the Bush administration's plan to return to the moon, was canceled a couple years ago. But not all of Constellation was canceled. The Orion…
Blog
FCC Delays Threaten to Hurt Wireless Consumers
America’s communications regulatory regime is broken. Case in point: prior government approval is needed for what should be a run of the mill marketplace transaction.
Letters
Coalition Letter on Cyber Security Act of 2012
Full Document Available in PDF We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our deep concerns with S. 2105, the Cyber…
Blog
Republican Space Socialism Update
Last time we checked in on this topic, House Appropriations Chairman Frank Wolf (R-Virginia) was decrying the wastefulness of competition. Well,…
Blog
The Remote Sensing Problem
Over at the Washington Post, in discussing the coming crisis in weathersats, the editorial board can't resist taking an ignorant dig…
Blog
When Commodities Analysts Should Stick To Commodities
Some analysts at Barclays attempt to understand the business case for Planetary Resources, and massively fail: Their…
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 26, 2012: The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)
Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia goes over CISPA's privacy problems and discusses the bill's political prospects.
Daily Caller
Internet Bill Could Allow DHS to Spy on Congress, Supreme Court
From Josh Peterson's article on The Daily Caller: “Ryan Radia, associate director of technology studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank…
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