June 2018

Sponsor 

Federal Elections Commission

Date 
Wed, 06/27/2018 - 13:30 to 20:15

Public hearing on draft NPRM on Internet Disclaimers and Definition of Public Communication



Letter from Commissioner O'Rielly on New Mexico 911 Fee Diversion

On June 19, 2018, Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly wrote to Charles Salle, Deputy Director of the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee. He was responding to a phone call Commissioner O'Rielly received addressing why the state of NM diverted 9-1-1 fees in 2016.

It’s time to rein in the data barons

Facebook, Google, and Amazon all have business models that require them to scoop up large amounts of data about people to power their algorithms, and they derive their power from this information. Like the oil barons at the turn of the 20th century, the data barons are determined to extract as much as possible of a resource that’s central to the economy of their time. The more information they can get to feed the algorithms that power their ad-targeting machines and product-recommendation engines, the better. Their dominance is allowing them to play a dangerous and outsize role in our polit

AT&T's merger will change how we watch TV

AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner will create a media conglomerate that combines premium content with a vast distribution network to deliver it to consumers. One of its first experiments in marrying the two will be a "skinny bundle" called AT&T Watch, providing Time Warner content (minus sports) to mobile customers.

The regulatory mistakes that let Facebook and Google buy ad dominance

Several major acquisitions have helped Google and Facebook on their way to unprecedented dominance over the advertising supply chain, antitrust analysts argued at the Open Markets Institute forum. There are six acquisitions that experts cited as missed opportunities by regulators at the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to curb the advertising market dominance of Google and Facebook.

Sponsor 

Schools Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition

Date 
Wed, 06/27/2018 - 16:00 to 17:00

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration launched the State Broadband Initiative (SBI) in 2009 to encourage state entities to advance broadband and information technology into their state and local economies. Almost ten years later, what states have taken up the challenge to adopt their own broadband initiatives?



AT&T-Time Warner is Godzilla v Rodan: citizens will get squashed

Antitrust has two main theories of competition. One is to try to ensure that lots of rivals compete in open markets to create better products and services. Call this the democratic theory. The other is to allow a few giants to control everything, then use antitrust only to make sure there are enough giants to create some competition, here and there. Call this the Godzilla versus Rodan theory. Godzilla is, of course, the Japanese irradiated sea monster and Rodan is a flying beast strong enough to fight Godzilla.