The real challenge facing President-elect Joe Biden is whether the person he picks as chairman can move the FCC beyond the “regulatory capture” that has long determined its policies. A number of key issues will define Biden’s ability to redress the overtly corporatist agenda promoted by Trump’s commission. One question will be whether broadband is a Title I or Title II form of communications.
Nov 18th, 2020 marked 3900 days since the Federal Communications Commission launched its heavily-hyped "National Broadband Plan." 400 days ago, I penned an op-ed for the Benton Institute which assessed how the FCC had been unable to achieve any of the benchmarks or meet any of the six stated goals of the plan. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that another year didn’t fix very much of the shortcomings I identified then.
While selecting me as 2020’s recipient of the Savas Award could fairly be called into question, your timing of this celebration could not be more perfect.
With nearly 1,000 rural Latino communities spread across the country, rural internet access has long been a priority for Latinos. But the past eight months have created a new sense of urgency. Recently, 19 national organizations representing communities of color, many of them Latino, recently petitioned the Federal Communications Commission. While the details are complicated, the outcome is not: expanding high-speed internet would be faster and more affordable, benefitting Latino families in rural communities across America.
The growth of tech companies has generated attention from antitrust agencies and legislatures throughout the world, with lawmakers calling for sweeping antitrust reforms. Critics contend that tech company dominance has resulted in harms to consumers and society, and that large companies have used mergers to swallow potential competitors. Defenders argue that competition is only a click away, and that existing law adequately protects consumers.
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