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
Hopping the fence: The failures of social media bans
There is growing global momentum toward mandatory age verification and stricter internet safety regulations. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 56…
Blog
Congress should fight piracy, not make ISPs internet police
Online piracy is a serious problem for content creators and rightsholders. Studies estimate that unauthorized streaming and downloads cost the US economy billions…
News Release
Report dispels AI jobs doomsday fears
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report examines what the AI revolution will mean for the future of labor by examining technology disruptions of the past. “Technology advances like artificial…
Search Posts
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.
Citation
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.
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