Adam Thierer's Blog, page 172

Crovitz on the Great Internet Optimist vs. Pessimist Debate

I've noted here before that Gordon Crovitz is my favorite technology policy columnist and that everything he pens for his "Information Age" column for The Wall Street Journal is well worth reading.   His latest might be his best ever.  It touches upon the great debate between Internet optimists and pessimists regarding the impact of digital technology on our culture and economy.  His title is just perfect: "Is Technology Good or Bad? Yes."  His point is that you can find evidence that...

PFF Progress on Point on Title II "sins"

The Progress and Freedom Foundation has just published a white paper I wrote for them titled "The Seven Deadly Sins of Title II Reclassification (NOI Remix)."  This is an expanded and revised version of an earlier blog post that looks deeply into the FCC's pending Notice of Inquiry regarding broadband Internet access. You can download a PDF here.

I point out that beyond the danger of subjecting broadband Internet to extensive new regulations under the so-called "Third Way" approach...

Video: The Open Internet and Lessons from the Ma Bell Era

Earlier this week, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart summed up the debate over net neutrality by stating, "On one side [are:] those who want the marketplace to remain a wide open market of ideas, and on the other side [is:] a larger group who have no idea what net neutrality means."

Stewart may have been joking, but he was right about one thing – many folks are confused about what net neutrality actually is and what it would mean for Internet users.

That's why I decided to enter the America's Got Net ...

MPAA Ratings Are Better Than the Alternative

Back in March, the Motion Picture Association of America re-launched its film-rating website, filmratings.com. While this may be old news to some, I just learned about it from a post on BoingBoing which makes fun of the rationales given for the ratings, which are available on the new website. Example: The movie "3 Ninjas Knuckle Up" was "rated PG-13 for non-stop ninja action."

It's fine to joke about particular ratings, but we shouldn't forget that the MPAA's rating system was created to...

Privacy Isn't Dead, It's Evolving

Recent revelations about Microsoft's internal debate over Internet Explorer's handling of tracking cookies, as chronicled by The Wall Street Journal earlier this month, have prompted harsh criticism from self-described privacy groups, who've called on Congress to investigate Microsoft's actions. But as Jim Harper pointed out in an excellent WSJ essay, Web users stand to lose a great deal if online tracking is squelched by the hand of government. Data gathering on the Internet is largely...

And Don't Trust Politicians With Government Either

A favorite PR maven pitched me (and probably many of you) Senator Al Franken's (D-MN) email suggesting that WiFi is threatened by the Google-Verizon "deal."

"The Google-Verizon 'framework' was written so as not to apply to wireless Internet services," says Franken. "If you use wi-fi or access the Internet on your phone, this is a serious problem."

Kindamaybenotsomuch. WiFi is wireless, yes, but it's not what they're talking about when they say "wireless."

But what caught my eye is Senator...

Alcohol Liberation Front 11 on August 18 @ pii2010 in Seattle

As I mentioned earlier, I'm attending the pii2010 conference (privacy, identity & innovation) this week in Seattle (18-19)! If you're at the conference or in the area, I hope you'll join me and my fellow TLFers Larry Downes and Carl Gipson for an "Alcohol Liberation Front" happy hour (cash bar) after the conference ends tomorrow, Wednesday the 18th at Kells Irish Pub at 1916 Post Alley–just a short walk from the Bell Harbor International Conference Center, where the conference will take p...

Alcohol Liberation Front 11 on 18 @ pii2010 in Seattle

As I mentioned earlier, I'm attending the pii2010 conference (privacy, identity & innovation) this week in Seattle (18-19)! If you're at the conference or in the area, I hope you'll join me and my fellow TLFers Larry Downes and Carl Gipson for an "Alcohol Liberation Front" happy hour (cash bar) after the conference ends tomorrow, Wednesday the 18th at Kells Irish Pub at 1916 Post Alley–just a short walk from the Bell Harbor International Conference Center, where the conference will take p...

Let's get our priorities straight

Adam recently pointed to Robert Litan and Hal Singer's new Harvard Business Review essay in which they defend ISPs' right to offer special handling for certain packets. They write, "The ability to purchase priority delivery from ISPs would spur innovation among businesses, large and small. Priority delivery would enable certain real-time applications to operate free of jitter and generally perform at higher levels."

I've recently begun to see this sort of argument used in the net neutrality...

What's Good for Google is Good for the Net

I thought I'd add a little addendum to my post below.  I just think it's cute how Google demanding a neutral wired Internet and a non-neutral wireless Internet totally serves its self-interest.

A neutral wired net was fine for them because edge-caching, private back-hauls, and other workarounds were available to them.  They look like selfless champions of Internet ideals, but are meanwhile using every instrument at their disposal to gain an edge on the competition (as well they should, being a...