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AT&T recently announced that it plans to abandon All You Can Eat (“AYCE”) unmetered data pricing substituting usage-based plans.  One certainly can appreciate a strategy that eliminates cross-subsidies from light to heavy users.  But consider what eliminating AYCE does to the overall conceptualization of wireless broadband.read more

Click thumbnail above for video Public Knowledge held an event on 6/3/2010 to discuss how the public airwaves are used. Called “Toward a Sustainable Spectrum Policy: Rethinking Federal Spectrum.” This video is Part 2 of 2 videos of a panel discussion titled ” Improving Federal Spectrum Management .” The panel discussion will focus on the second white paper released by Public Knowledge: “Transparency, Efficiency, Access: How To Reform Federal Spectrum Management.”

Click thumbnail above for video Public Knowledge held an event on 6/3/2010 to discuss how the public airwaves are used. Called “Toward a Sustainable Spectrum Policy: Rethinking Federal Spectrum.” This video is Part 1 of 2 videos of a panel discussion titled ” Improving Federal Spectrum Management .” The panel discussion will focus on the second white paper released by Public Knowledge: “Transparency, Efficiency, Access: How To Reform Federal Spectrum Management.”

Click thumbnail above for video Public Knowledge held an event on 6/3/2010 to discuss how the public airwaves are used. Called “Toward a Sustainable Spectrum Policy: Rethinking Federal Spectrum.” This video is Part 2 of 2 videos of a panel discussion titled “Federal Secondary Markets” and is centered around the Public Knowledge white paper, “Federal Spectrum Secondary Markets: A Third Way Forward for Federal Spectrum Reform.”

Click thumbnail above for video Public Knowledge held an event on 6/3/2010 to discuss how the public airwaves are used. Called “Toward a Sustainable Spectrum Policy: Rethinking Federal Spectrum.” This video is Part 1 of 2 videos of a panel discussion titled “Federal Secondary Markets” and is centered around the Public Knowledge white paper, “Federal Spectrum Secondary Markets: A Third Way Forward for Federal Spectrum Reform.”

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission released a draft report on the future of journalism.  This report consists of a summary of various policy proposals, ostensibly to save journalism, submitted by stakeholders and participants.  Unfortunately, three of these proposals would “save” journalism by improperly expanding IP rights in news and in facts.read more

Sometimes it can be hard to tell if a market is competitive or not.  How many businesses need to be in a market in order to count as competitive?  How big do they have to be?  What counts as a business in the market?  Other times, it is easy to tell if the market is competitive.  Are businesses doing things that are good for consumers but bad for their bottom lines?  If so, it is probably because competition is forcing them to act.Take, as a completely random example, the world of dial-up Internet access in the early and mid-90s.  read more

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• PK Events

Click thumbnail above for video Public Knowledge held an event on 6/3/2010 to discuss how the public airwaves are used. Called “Toward a Sustainable Spectrum Policy: Rethinking Federal Spectrum,” this first video is an introduction by Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn and an overview presentation on “Averting the Spectrum Crisis” by Assistant Secretary of Commerce Larry Strickling,  the administrator of  the for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

The Personal Democracy Forum is one of the foremost gatherings anywhere of people who use the Internet.  Wander around and you will find entrepreneurs, developers, writers, activists (and many of those here fall into multiple categories) all of whom are working in some form on political activity online.And so the problem, and the promise, of trying to make sure that Internet remained open showed up starkly in the first presentation, by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.  In the on-stage interview with PDF founder Andrew Rasiej, Wales was asked (full disclosure: I asked the question) whether the concept whether the Internet could contribute to a new governance structure depended on everyone having access to broadband and to a non-discriminatory Internet.read more

Our federal spectrum reform conference, Toward a Sustainable Spectrum Policy: Rethinking Federal Spectrum, is currently underway. At the conference, panelists will discuss two whitepapers on the topic of spectrum reform, both of which are available below: Breaking the Logjam: Creating Sustainable Spectrum Access Through Federal Secondary Markets Breaking the Logjam: Some Modest Proposals for Enhancing Transparency, Efficiency and Innovation in Public Spectrum Management If you’re unable to attend the conference in person, be sure to follow the ongoing discussion on Twitter, using the hashtag #pksrc. And for more information on the conference, visit this page.read more

For Immediate Release:  June 3, 2010 The Federal government should alter its spectrum-allocation policies and procedures so that both the government and the private sector can operate more efficiently, two papers presented today at a Public Knowledge-sponsored conference suggested. The papers, by PK Legal Director Harold Feld and economist Gregory Rose, were presented at the conference, Toward a Sustainable Spectrum Policy:  Rethinking Federal Spectrum. One paper, Breaking the Logjam: Creating Sustainable Spectrum Access Through Federal Secondary Markets, suggested the government consider real-time leasing rather than simply clearing bands entirely for auction.  The full version of the paper is located here.read more

The essence of comedy is timing. So I suppose it is fittng that AT&T, whose wireless network has been the punch line for Jon Stewart and other late night comics of late displayed rare comic timing by announcing it’s latest change in policy the day after the FCC issued a Public Notice asking the public to file comments on how to measure wireless broadband performance and coverage.read more

For Immediate Release:  June 2, 2010 Public Knowledge President and Co-Founder Gigi B. Sohn announced that Ernesto Falcon joined the organization as Director of Government Affairs, effective June 1.Falcon came to PK from the office of Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), where he worked for three years as the legislative assistant dealing with issues related to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Falcon previously worked on Capitol Hill for Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) as a technology manager and legislative assistant.Sohn said: “Public Knowledge is fortunate to have Ernesto working with us. His knowledge of our issues, knowledge of Congress and his dedication to the public interest will help us tremendously as we work to protect the free and open Internet and work for balance in copyright law.”

If you are a regular reader of this blog, there is a good chance that you are the type of person who gets questions about choosing cell phones from family, friends, and when you go to cocktail parties.  People probably ask for your opinion about this phone or that, or the merits of one carrier vs. another. In the next few weeks you are probably going to be getting new questions about networks, specifically about 3G vs. 4G.  If you really want to blow the mind of the person asking you the question, you can tell that it may not matter.read more

I received an announcement today about “Broadband Policy Summit VI: Implementing the National Plan”.  This event is cosponsored by two commercial organizations, BNA and Pike & Fischer, in association with the FCBA.  The speakers include · Meredith Attwell Baker, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission· Lawrence E. Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, and Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Department of Commerce· Ambassador Philip L. Verveer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State· Edward P. Lazarus, Chief of Staff, Federal Communications Commissionread more

If you were vision-impaired, how easy would it be for you to get a readable copy of your favorite book, whether in Braille or in some accessible digital format?read more

For Immediate Release:  June 1, 2010 Larry Strickling, director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), will deliver the keynote address at an important conference sponsored by Public Knowledge. The conference, “Toward a Sustainable Spectrum Policy:  Rethinking Federal Spectrum,” will be held June 3 at the Washington Court Hotel on Capitol Hill.Public Knowledge President and Co-founder Gigi B. Sohn said, “While everyone wants access to Federal spectrum, we need to balance that with Federal needs. Some argue we should maximize revenue with auctions, others say we should focus on making access to spectrum more affordable for competitors, new entrants, and innovators. The event will look at how new technologies and new approaches make it possible to strike a balance between these competing needs.”  The conference so far has 175 registered attendees.read more

International agreements prescribing what domestic intellectual property (IP) laws should look like have been around for a long time. However, the linkage between IP and trade is of more recent vintage. By recent I mean at least 16 old. And with this linkage comes the ability to enforce IP agreements with the threat of trade sanctions. For instance, recently the U.S. successfully brought an action against China before the World Trade Organization claiming that China’s IP policies violated the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). At the same time, IP aspects of trade agreements are increasingly affecting domestic policies.read more

For Immediate Release:  May 28, 2010 Earlier today, 171 of 177 House Republicans signed a letter opposing the proposed actions of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ensure economic growth and to protect consumers.The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:“Today’s House letter, combined with that signed by 74 Democrats a couple of days ago, is nothing more than a demonstration of the unparalleled political and lobbying muscle of the telecommunications industry.  The biggest companies are spending millions and millions of dollars to buy this Congress.  AT&T spent $6 million in the first quarter of this year alone.read more

Hi, everyone. My name is Anjali Bhat and I’m a summer intern at Public Knowledge. Unlike Chris and Mart, I have never worked here before, so this is a first-time introduction.read more