December 2023

FCC Grants 8 Broadband Segment Applications to PDV Spectrum Holding Company

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau) granted eight 900 MHz broadband segment license applications to PDV Spectrum Holding Company in Polk County (GA), Racine and Eau Claire Counties (WI), and Dakota, Scott, Sherburne, Wright, and Anoka Counties (MN). PDV is a wholly owned subsidiary of Anterix, the largest holder of 900 MHz spectrum nationwide, has been courting utilities that are interested in the spectrum for private LTE as they look to modernize and future-proof critical power grid infrastructure. On May 13, 2020, the FCC realigned the 900 M

Analysis

Working Towards Digital Equity in DC

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Inside Amazon’s Effort to Challenge Musk’s Starlink Internet Business

Amazon executives tend to describe their satellite venture, Project Kuiper, in philanthropic terms, emphasizing its potential to connect people in remote or impoverished areas with education and global commerce. Less altruistically, Amazon also hopes the $10-billion-plus project can transform it into a global telecommunications giant.

Generative Artificial Intelligence and the Creative Economy Staff Report: Perspectives and Takeaways

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a public event for creative professionals entitled, “Creative Economy and Generative AI.” The purpose of this report is to summarize the information provided to the FTC in that roundtable. Some of the issues surfaced at the event implicate the FTC’s enforcement and policy authority, though some certainly go beyond or outside the FTC’s jurisdiction. This report begins by briefly summarizing the technological developments in AI and generative AI that make this roundtable and report timely. Next, it explains the FTC’s jurisdictional interest in AI.

When Streaming Came to Prison

For more than 25 years, I’ve been in prison, where TV is a staple of prison life as essential as staff and more immutable than any rehabilitative program. Cell-block televisions are equal parts library, time machine, and mecca, instructing the incarcerated in the ways of the world they aspire to return to. Traditionally, most prisons have a communal TV, though some also sell personal TV sets.

2023 Merger Guidelines

These Merger Guidelines identify the procedures and enforcement practices the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission most often use to investigate whether mergers violate the antitrust laws. The Merger Guidelines set forth several different analytical frameworks to assist the Agencies in assessing whether a merger presents sufficient risk to warrant an enforcement action.

In Prison, Out of Googles

Google is on the long list of things I took for granted prior to prison. Before I was incarcerated in 2014, I used Google often, relying on the search engine to satisfy my random curiosities. When that access was suddenly cut off, I began depending on others to answer my burning questions. Prison is isolating by design, and even things like obituaries are cruelly out of reach. Prisoners' Google requests reflect the whole spectrum of ups and downs you live through in prison.