The burden of regulation on Americans increased at an alarming rate in fiscal year 2010. Based on data from the Government Accountability Office, an unprecedented 43 major new regulations were imposed by Washington. Read More.
Most Americans are painfully aware of the amount of taxes they pay, but explicit taxes and spending are only part of the total burden that government places on Americans. The rest comes in the form of hidden taxes imposed by government regulations. Read More.
The Senate will move early next month to consider a comprehensive cybersecurity bill. The House, likewise, is pledged to consider legislation this year. The Administration has proposed a bill itself, and the political forces seem to be moving toward some form of legislative response to the growing problem of intrusion… Read more
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) are well-intentioned House and Senate proposals aimed at stopping the theft of intellectual property through foreign-based websites. Intellectual property is a critical and important form of property. The Framers understood that well enough to authorize the establishment of… Read more
On this week’s Scribecast, Rob Bluey and Lachlan Markay interview digital strategist Patrick Ruffini about the congressional debate over anti-piracy legislation. Ruffini, president of Engage, discusses the implications of the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act. The interview runs about 10 minutes. Click here to subscribe to… Read more
It is one of the most contentious but least understood issues now before Congress—one that does not align neatly along party lines and has split the business community. The issue is online piracy, the illegal sale of copyrighted and trademarked products on rogue pirate websites. Since last week, the House… Read more
Google—incorporated 13 years ago by college students Larry Page and Sergey Brin—is an American success story. Armed with little more but a graduate thesis and a few algorithms, the firm remade the Internet, providing individuals the world over with unimaginably easy access to information of all kinds. In the process,… Read more
The United States Postal Service (USPS) stands on the brink of financial collapse. According to the Postmaster General, by next month, USPS coffers will be down to a week’s worth of cash.[1] The government-owned enterprise barely avoided default this week when Congress extended the due date for a… Read more
What's wrong with this picture? President Barack Obama recently told Congress that the nation desperately needs to spend more on infrastructure to create jobs and to get the economy moving again. But only last month, his regulators aggressively moved to thwart private-sector plans to invest tens of billions on new… Read more
What’s wrong with this picture? President Obama recently told Congress that the nation desperately needs to spend more on infrastructure to create jobs and to get the economy moving again. But only last month, his regulators aggressively moved to thwart private-sector plans to invest tens of billions on new infrastructure… Read more
More than 2 billion people worldwide now have some degree of access to the Internet, a figure that has doubled over the past five years. Yet while the Internet is emerging as an increasingly powerful tool for political activism, governments around the world are also becoming more expert at controlling… Read more
In May, the Administration unveiled a legislative proposal for cybersecurity that is now working its way through Congress. It is one of several major legislative packages offered that seek to enhance the security and resilience of the nation’s cyber infrastructure. Getting the federal government’s role right in cybersecurity is crucial.… Read more
A heated public debate started when the original "file-sharing" service, Napster, went on-line in 1999. Napster was shut down in 2001, but the debate raged on as other file-sharing services -- commonly referred to as peer-to-peer (P2P) networks -- took its… Read more
Abstract: Virtual or online learning is revolutionizing American education. It has the potential to dramatically expand the educational opportunities of American students, largely overcoming the geographic and demographic restrictions. Virtual learning also has the potential to improve the quality of instruction, while increasing productivity… Read more
On June 2, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on whether to modify or even repeal its restrictions on ownership of broadcast stations. Opponents argue that changes to these rules would reduce diversity in an already concentrated market - warning that big media "monopolies" are already limiting what Americans see and hear. They are mistaken. Despite… Read more
Taxpayer-funded public broadcasting has been around almost as long as "60 Minutes." No wonder it seems part of the family. Unfortunately, the family member public broadcasting most resembles is the live-in brother-in-law who refuses to earn enough to move out of your basement and into his own apartment.… Read more
As the public policy debate over America's "digital divide" intensifies, federal, state and local policymakers are considering steps to solve this apparent gap between the technological "haves" and "have-nots." The issue has two major policy components. The first deals with the "wiring" of classrooms for educational purposes and the role of technology in… Read more
"Our massive strategy was to use the Fairness Doctrine to challenge and harass right-wing broadcasters and hope the challenges would be so costly to them that they would be inhibited and decide it was too expensive to continue." --Bill Ruder, Democratic campaign consultant and Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Kennedy Administration[1] "The… Read more
The battle over AT&T’s proposed acquisition of struggling wireless carrier T-Mobile officially began last month when AT&T filed papers with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requesting approval. The deal seems to be a sensible one, potentially benefiting T-Mobile’s and AT&T’s subscribers.[1] Not so sensible, however, is the process… Read more
With all of the upheaval in the Middle East, the question naturally arises: What lessons are the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and especially the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), likely to have learned from all of this upheaval? Particularly, are the Chinese likely to interpret it as underscoring the need… Read more
Should the FCC be allowed to regulate the Internet? That’s the question facing Congress as it reviews the “net neutrality” rule recently adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The House Commerce Committee is expected to vote soon on a “resolution of disapproval” to void the regulation. … Read more
Think back 20 years ago. What were you doing? Whatever answer you came up with, it probably had nothing to do with the...… Read more
On Monday, the Supreme Court issued an important ruling on the subject of surveillance in light of today’s technologies....… Read more
Last Thursday, Iran and Turkey signed an agreement aimed at increasing trade between the two countries and doubling...… Read more
For the past two weeks, Washington has been in the depths of a discussion about the best way to stop the online theft of...… Read more
During a presidential debate on Thursday night, all four Republican candidates denounced pending legislation aimed at...… Read more
As of midnight, Wikipedia is shut down for 24 hours, and hundreds of other popular websites have gone dark right along...… Read more
Is Congress about to limit freedom of speech on the Internet? Two bills wending their way through the Senate and the...… Read more
A District of Columbia city council member is calling on the city’s taxicab commission to allow competition to its...… Read more
Six conservative U.S. senators voiced concerns Friday over the substance and procedural context of controversial...… Read more
Sometimes my friends and colleagues wonder why I fixate on cybersecurity and the Internet. I tell them all the time that...… Read more
Visiting Fellow
Senior Research Fellow in Regulatory Policy