Introduction These comments seek to address the questions raised by the Department of Justice in its current review of the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees. . . .
Ben Sperry •
July 22, 2019
ICLE submitted comments to the FCC on the First Amendment implications of the leased access rules. Associate Director, Legal Research Ben Sperry argued the changes in the video marketplace towards competition undercut the justification for subjecting regulation of cable operators' speech to only intermediate scrutiny.
In this ex parte letter, ICLE analyzes the law and economics of both the underlying statute and the FCC's proposed rulemaking that would affect the interpretation of cable franchise fees. For a variety of reasons set forth in the letter, we believe that the Commission is on firm legal and economic footing to adopt its proposed Order. Congress intentionally enacted the five percent revenue cap to prevent LFAs from relying on cable franchise fees as an unlimited general revenue source. In order to maintain the proper incentives for network buildout — which are ever more-critical as our economy increasingly relies on high-speed broadband networks — the Commission should adopt the proposed Order.
The Department should be commended for undertaking this workshop “to explore industry dynamics in media advertising and the implications for antitrust enforcement and policy.... and the competitive dynamics of media advertising in general.” The competitive dynamics of advertising markets—and digital advertising markets, in particular—are complicated and not well-understood.
We write to address a crucial question relevant to your upcoming, March 12 hearing on “The State of Competition in the Wireless Market: Examining the Impact of the Proposed Merger of T-Mobile and Sprint on Consumers, Workers, and the Internet.”
Gus Hurwitz &
Chris Berg •
February 21, 2019
The analysis in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Preliminary Report for the Digital Platforms Inquiry is inadequate in several ways. There is a real danger that if the policy recommendations outlined in the preliminary report were to be adopted, Australian consumers would be severely harmed.
ICLE submitted comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Developing the Administration’s Approach to Consumer Privacy.
ICLE submitted Comments to the Federal Communications Commission in Opposition to Petitions to Deny the T-Mobile-Sprint Merger. ICLE's comments argue that the petitions to deny fail to provide any compelling reason to adopt a presumption against this merger. To the contrary, there are good reasons to think that this transaction will benefit consumers and the economy.
Properly considered, there is no novel conflict between promoting the flow of information and protecting intellectual property rights online. While the specific mechanisms employed to mediate between these two principles may differ, the fundamental principles that determine the dividing line between “legal” and “illegal” content and its distribution offline can and should be respected online, as well.