Open Networks: Recent and Upcoming Events

Is the Internet as we knew it - an open platform for innovation - a victim of its own commercial success? In his important new book, Jonathan Zittrain argues that both the Internet and the PC are on a path to a lockdown, devolving into "tethered appliances" that reduce our freedom to innovate. Zittrain argues that the openness of PCs and the Internet spawned an abundance of connectivity and creativity, but have also brought us a… more

NOTE: Due to a last-minute scheduling conflict, Douglas Holtz-Eakin is unable to participate in today's event, and the McCain campaign will not be sending an alternate spokesperson. The event will proceed as scheduled with Reed Hundt representing the Obama campaign.

The next president is going to face a host of pressing questions involving technology:

Why is the United States falling behind the rest of the world in broadband access, and how can we reverse that? What should our immigration policy be for… more

In the coming weeks, the FCC will set the bidding and service rules for the auction of the 700MHz channels being freed up by the DTV transition—“beachfront” airwaves ideal for the provision of high-speed wireless broadband services. This last big sale of prime spectrum is expected to raise $10 to $20 billion in federal revenue. But far more important to the economy and to consumers is whether this auction promotes broadband deployment and price competition in every part of the… more

As broadband data communication moves into the mobile, wireless world, should basic concepts of “network neutrality” that exist in the wireline world be applied to the wireless industry? On February 21, Voice-over-IP provider Skype filed a petition requesting that the FCC affirm the right of consumers to attach any legal device (such as a VoIP-enabled cell phone) to cellular networks, as embodied in the Commission’s Carterfone rules that are currently observed in the wireline telephone world. more

We all see the Internet as a place of freedom, where new technologies, business innovation and competition flourish. This freedom has always been at the heart of what the Internet community and its original innovators celebrated.

Commissioner Michael J. Copps, of the Federal Communications Commission, contends that this openness is at risk. He will discuss the threat posed by a regulatory movement to replace open networks with closed systems and the impact this will have on… more