May 2018

Antitrust via Rulemaking: Competition Catalysts

Some observers note a decline in competition in American industry; fewer new firms are entering the market, and markets are becoming more concentrated. Federal and state agencies can devise regulations to catalyze competition. Federal and state agencies can use different types of rules to spur competition, including deregulation, which removes rules that discourage new firms, or switching price rules, which makes it easier for consumers to try a new service provider (such as the rule that phone customers can keep their phone number when changing service providers).

May 21-25, 2018
Weekly Digest

Happy GDPR Day

 You’re reading the Benton Foundation’s Weekly Round-up, a recap of the biggest (or most overlooked) telecommunications stories of the week. The round-up is delivered via e-mail each Friday.

Round-Up for the Week of May 21-25, 2018

Sponsor 

Federal Communications Commission's Consumer Advisory Committee

Date 
Fri, 06/08/2018 - 14:00 to 21:30

At this meeting, the CAC will receive briefings from Commission staff on issues of interest to the Committee and may discuss topics including, but not limited to, consumer protection and education, consumer participation in the FCC rulemaking process, and the impact of new and emerging communication technologies.

This agenda may be modified at the discretion of the CAC Chair and Designated Federal Officer (DFO).



Even Under Kind Masters: A Proposal to Require that Dominant Platforms Accord Their Users Due Process

This paper recommends that dominant online platforms be required to provide their users with “due process,” that is, procedural protections that ensure fairness, when the platforms wish to take an action that may be detrimental to the user. It argues that the principles of due process are a way to ensure that individuals are treated fairly by large institutions -- whether they are public or private. It recommends a robust set of procedural protections adopted from leading legal scholars and proposes a way of determining "dominance" that is informed by the history of communications law.