February 4, 2019

The Mozilla oral arguments and the ongoing hell of the “net neutrality” debate

Gus Hurwitz

In the opening seconds of what was surely one of the worst oral arguments in a high-profile case that I have ever heard, Pantelis Michalopoulos, arguing for petitioners against the…

Telecommunications

November 12, 2018

A brief overview of the draft CWA GUIDELINES on licensing of SEPs for 5G and IoT

Natasha Nayak

An important but unheralded announcement was made on October 10, 2018: The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) released a draft CEN CENELAC Workshop Agreement (CWA) on the licensing of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) for 5G/Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Innovation & The New Economy

October 18, 2018

Telemarketing, Technology, and Why the Telephone Sucks (and how to fix it)

Gus Hurwitz

It is a truth universally acknowledged that unwanted telephone calls are among the most reviled annoyances known to man. But this does not mean that laws intended to prohibit these calls are themselves necessarily good. Indeed, in one sense we know intuitively that they are not good.

Telecommunications

October 18, 2018

Amicus Brief, Mozilla v. FCC

Geoffrey A. Manne & Gus Hurwitz & Kristian Stout

ICLE filed a  brief in support of Petitioners in the D.C. Circuit case, Mozilla v. FCC, a case that challenged the FCC's authority to issue the Restoring Internet Freedom Order ("RIFO").

Telecommunications

October 4, 2018

Putting Politics over Policy at the FCC

Geoffrey A. Manne & Gus Hurwitz & Kristian Stout

FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel penned an article this week on the doublespeak coming out of the current administration with respect to trade and telecom policy. On one hand, she argues, the administration has proclaimed 5G to be an essential part of our future commercial and defense interests.

Telecommunications

June 27, 2018

ICLE Letter to Senate Judiciary re T-Mobile-Sprint Merger

Geoffrey A. Manne & Richard Epstein & Gus Hurwitz & Thomas Lambert & Michael Sykuta & Peter Klein & Mark Jamison & Dan Lyons

We are a group of eight scholars of antitrust law and economics affiliated with the International Center for Law & Economics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research center based in Portland, OR. Without taking a position on the merits of the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger, this letter provides a brief explication of our views on some of the important economic issues involved in the transaction’s antitrust review.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

June 12, 2018

AT&T-Time Warner merger approved

Eric Fruits

AT&T’s merger with Time Warner has lead to one of the most important, but least interesting, antitrust trials in recent history. It’s about a close to a “pure” vertical merger as we can get in today’s world and would not lead to a measurable increase in prices paid by consumers.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

May 23, 2018

ICLE analysis finds low antitrust risk in Comcast’s purchase of Fox assets — especially relative to Disney’s

Geoffrey A. Manne

As has been rumored in the press for a few weeks, Comcast announced today that it is considering a renewed bid for a large chunk of Twenty-First Century Fox’s (Fox) assets. In December 2017, Fox’s board rejected a bid from Comcast that was some 16% higher than the one it ultimately accepted from Disney.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

May 16, 2018

The net neutrality CRA may be the most tedious piece of political theater ever

Geoffrey A. Manne & Kristian Stout

At this point, only the most masochistic and cynical among DC’s policy elite actually desire for the net neutrality conflict to continue. And yet, despite claims that net neutrality principles are critical…

Telecommunications