Bad Proposals
Bad Proposals
Wi-Fi on School Buses is a Horrible Idea
By Jason Lee In July 2023, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel was pushing the idea of installing Wi-Fi on school buses using E-Rate funding during a speech at the American Library Association. This was in spite of the fact that E-Rate funding…
Bad Proposals
FCC Makes it Harder for Small Businesses to Find Customers
By James Erwin I remember well when I first needed to purchase car insurance for a vehicle I had bought off my father. After reviewing plans on a comparison website and selecting one I wanted to investigate further, I entered my phone number and consented to their proactive outreach, expecting…
AI
The Hawley-Blumenthal AI Bill Threatens National Security
In short, passing this bill is not only terrible for our economy, but it would also make a Chinese invasion of Taiwan even more likely. The Senate should not only block the bill today, but ensure it never comes close to a vote in the future.
Bad Proposals
The Mullin USF Bill Is Worse Than We Thought
By James Erwin Last week, we wrote about the push by some Republicans require edge providers to contribute to the Universal Service Fund (USF) to help cover its shortfalls. Now that a bill has been introduced by Senators Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), we realize that we…
Bad Proposals
New Taxes On Tech Companies Won’t Fix USF
By James Erwin The Universal Service Fund (USF) is in trouble and has been for some time. Its current funding mechanism does not raise enough revenue to consistently support the outlays demanded by the programs it funds, and reform is badly needed. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, some in Washington want…
Bad Proposals
Biden FCC’s Digital Discrimination Order is Overbroad and Unworkable
By James Erwin One to 218. No, that’s not the teacher-to-student ratio in Mumbai elementary schools (that would be a measly 1:36). That’s the number of pages in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) authorizing the FCC to embark on its digital discrimination rulemaking to the number of pages…
Bad Proposals
What’s the Problem with Usage-Based Billing?
By James Erwin Usage-based billing, or UBB for short, is common practice across most industries. You get billed for the amount of electricity you use at home, the amount of gas burned to heat your apartment, and even the number of hours a lawyer works for you. The broadband industry…
Bad Proposals
Net Neutrality May Have Slowed Down the Internet
Amid much hue and cry, apocalyptic predictions, and advocacy from “comedian” John Oliver’s HBO show, the FCC revoked the Open Internet Order in 2017 (effective 2018). Widely promoted as “Net Neutrality,” the policy had been adopted by the FCC in 2014 after public pressure by then-President Obama,…
Bad Proposals
Canadian Government Imposes Restrictive Television Speech Rules on the Internet
The Canadian government took a dramatic step to restrict the free speech rights of online streaming platforms by passing the Online Streaming Act, popularly known by our neighbors to the north as Bill C-11. This bill places most online content creators under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications…
Bad Proposals
Digital Liberty Joins Coalition Opposing Wasteful Expansion of E-Rate
Today Digital Liberty signed onto a letter opposing the FCC’s attempt to expand the E-Rate program for the use of remote learning. Remote learning during the pandemic is an important mission. Our students want to stay in school, that is why Congress has already given nearly $70 billion in…